Shattered World
by ChibiSNO123
Summary: Twenty-four year old police officer Videl Satan is living a life in the shadow of her father's fame. Life was pretty typical and boring until strange, unexplainable events begin happening. As Videl investigates and discovers the truth behind what's happening, her world will be turned upside down and the beliefs she's held as as a young child will be shattered. AU GohanxVidel
1. Chapter 1 - Mondays

Chapter 1: Mondays

Videl was annoyed, partially because it was early and partially because the weekend had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Mondays were widely considered to be the worst day of the week, and for good reason, Mondays always seemed to come quickly and unexpectedly.

She raised her coffee to her lips, breathing in the heavenly aroma before taking a sip. Her coworkers could be as critical as they wanted of her possible caffeine addition. She needed to drink the stuff to even have a slight chance of making it through any given day.

'_Especially Mondays._' Videl thought grumpily to herself before slumping back in her desk chair lazily. She reached a hand up to rub her temples.

Twenty-four year old Videl Satan had no personal relationship to call her own. No husband, no fiancé or even boyfriend in her life. She didn't let herself connect to anyone in a more than friendly way because of who her father was. All of the dates in her life had been more interested in her father. Videl knew that any attempt by anyone to woo her was only an attempt to get at her family's fame and fortune. She decided a long time ago that she didn't want a relationship in her life. She had already come to terms with the fact she was meant to be alone in the love life department.

'_Friendships that come in the bubbly blonde forms are another story though…'_ She mused to herself as she saw her friend approaching her desk.

"Good morning Vee! You don't look so well… stay up late again? Ooo… I bet it was a guy that had you up all night!" The blonde chirped.

Videl scoffed. "Don't get too carried away Erasa, you know I'm not interested in a relationship. Besides, I've told you a million times you can't visit while I'm working. I'm really busy! I'm behind on a lot of paperwork."

Erasa raised an eyebrow. "Paperwork huh? Looks more like you're nursing a hangover."

Videl was about to vehemently deny the accusation but the blonde continued.

"Besides, I'm not here to visit. I'm here on business. I need to file a police report on behalf of the school." Erasa then winked, "but visiting you was certainly a nice bonus."

"You know, sometimes I wonder who is in charge of deciding who gets to be a licensed teacher. It blows my mind that someone like you is shaping the young minds of Satan City's children."

Erasa put the back of her hand to her forehead in mock despair. "Oh Videl, your words are so harsh! My feelings are hurt."

Videl chuckled at her friend's terrible acting. She then composed herself. "So what sort of report are you filing on behalf of the school?"

Erasa put her hand down. "Oh, just some vandalism to the playground." She shook her head slowly. "I swear… kids these days."

"Vandalism? What sort of graffiti did our mysterious artist concoct this time?" Videl inquired, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Oh no no, this time it wasn't graffiti."

"Well that's disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing another creatively designed swear word. What's the vandalism?"

"Well, it's the strangest thing. It looks like… well honestly, it looks like someone melted part of the playground."

"Melted the playground?"

"Yeah, the monkey bars are all droopy, and melty. Like ice cream!"

"You relate everything to food don't you?" Videl joked. "But seriously, melting the playground?! Dumb kids and their pyromaniac habits."

"Yeah, whoever did it certainly wasn't _monkeying_ around!"

Videl leveled a glare at her friend for the cheesy pun. "Well on that note. Let me know what you find out. Sounds like some crazy kid needs to be taught a lesson in justice."

"You can't hurt a kid Videl." Erasa glared back at her.

"Psh, hurt a kid?" Videl put her hands up defensively. "I didn't mean anything like that. I mean some gold old-fashioned time in the slammer."

Erasa rolled her eyes. "Well whatever, I'll be seeing you around Vee!" She turned her back and started to walk away. When she reached the corner of the hallway she added, "Oh by the way! I set you up with a hot date tonight! Don't try to get out of it!"

Before Videl could protest Erasa disappeared around the corner, leaving her to fume to herself. "That girl… I swear…" she muttered to herself, shaking her head. Videl reached into her pocket pulling out a keychain filled with an assortment of keys. She flipped through them one by one until she came to the key she was looking for. Videl inserted it into a locked desk drawer and pulled it open, reaching in to grab her handgun.

"Well… I guess it's time to get to work." Videl stood up, turning to yell over her cubicle. "YAMCHA! It's time to go. Let's get a move on slow poke!"

"Gees! You don't have to yell!" Her partner Yamcha showed up at her desk covering his ears.

"I yell so idiots like you will hear me!" Videl said back to her partner playfully.

"Hey! There's no reason to be like that! Let's just get out of here!"

The pair headed out the station's doors. "Shotgun!" Videl declared loudly as they approached the patrol car.

"Aw man! I _always _have to drive." Yamcha complained while opening the driver's side door. He climbed into the car and began adjusting the seat and mirrors and then closed the door behind him.

Videl climbed into the passenger side and shut the door "Oh please, cry me a river. I drove last time in case you had forgotten. Besides, aren't real men supposed to love to drive?"

"Real men? What's that supposed to me?" Yamcha glared at his female friend.

"You know what it means." She smirked at him.

Yamcha scoffed and threw the car into reverse. "I'll have you know I have a date tomorrow. Someone in this city appreciates a real man." He carefully backed out and then put the car in drive, pulling forward towards the edge of the parking lot.

"Oh really? You have a date? I didn't know there were people out there attracted to spiky-haired idiots."

"Wow Videl! You sure are harsh this morning. Is it that time of the month for yo-" Yamcha was interrupted by a fist colliding with this arm. He blinked a few times. "I'll take that as a yes." He pulled the car out into the street.

"Yamcha, I will kill you. I won't even be creative about it. I'll just take you outside, shoot you, and then face the consequences."

He laughed in response and then peered at her through the corner of his eyes. "Anyways, you can laugh at me all you want, but you're forgetting the fact that you haven't had a boyfriend in over five years!"

Videl repositioned herself in her seat and rested her head in the palm of her hand, peering out the window and smiling. "Yeah, but the difference between you and I is that I'm single by choice."

Yamcha scoffed again. "Oh please Videl. No one wants to be alone."

"I do. I don't trust anyone."

"You don't even trust me?"

She laughed, "of course I trust you." She turned to face him again. "I'll make you a pact, how about if we're both single by the time we're thirty-five, we'll get married."

Yamcha laughed. "Deal. But I don't think we'll have to worry about that."

"Why? Are you that confident in your date tomorrow?"

"Well of course! But I was also referring to you. There's no way a hot babe like you won't be married by then."

Videl's eyes narrowed. "Call me a babe one more time and I will follow through on my threat to kill you."

"Okay okay! Gees! I didn't mean to offend you. It's just, you're a pretty girl. And you're passionate about what you believe in. I don't know anyone who wouldn't appreciate that."

"Yeah, well, there hasn't been a guy who has gotten to know me that well in a long time."

"That's because you leave halfway through your dinner dates…"

"Yeah, I leave right about the time the start asking about my dad. That's all any guy cares about."

They approached a red light and Yamcha slowed the car to a stop. He turned and gave his friend a big grin. "I totally know the guy for you!"

"Yamcha, I told you. Not until we're thirty-five." Videl winked.

"No no no no! I meant, I know someone. He's the son of an old friend of mine. He was raised in the country, very humble, very handsome. And very, very smart."

"Not in the least bit interested." She said flatly. "Don't try to set me up with any of your hillbilly country friends."

"He's not like that at all! He's your age even."

"Not interested." She repeated.

"Tall with dark hair and dark eyes…"

"YAMCHA! I said I'm not interested! Gees."

The light turned green and Yamcha began to drive again.

"Besides, don't you want to know where we're assigned to patrol today?" Videl said.

Yamcha sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Where are we at today?"

* * *

Videl checked her watch and sighed. _'Only 8:45PM… I only made it forty-five minutes of that dreaded date.'_

Videl had only made it forty-five minutes because not long into the date he had begun asking about her father_. 'What's it like living with the world savior himself? Does he take visitors? Could you get me an autograph?' _Videl mocked the man's voice in her head.

Ten years ago, Hercule Satan had risen up to challenge the tyrant Cell. Cell was unlike anyone the world had ever seen. He could fly, bullets and missiles didn't effect him, he was destructive and absorbed people to gain power. No one was sure where he had come from but he looked like an alien of some sorts. He was big, green and had black spots covering the length of his body. As some sort of cruel display of power, he had decided to hold a martial arts tournament before he destroyed the Earth. Her father bravely entered the tournament, being the world martial arts tournament champion it was almost expected of him. There were two other challengers she had seen on television before the broadcast cut out, a young blonde boy who was about her age at the time, and what she assumed was his father, given their similarities in appearance. They both had piecing green eyes that glowed so brightly it didn't seem human. The world had watched as the father bravely fought cell but was defeated. The young boy then stepped up to fight, seemingly angry at his father's defeat. That's when the broadcast had cut out. Videl could only guess what happened from there, but there was no doubt about it that the boy and his father had perished to Cell. Hercule Satan, using his lifetime of martial arts and police training, was able to see through all of Cell's light tricks. He defeated Cell with ease and would be crowned the world's savior. From then on, life hadn't been normal for Videl. She was thrust into the limelight with her father. She was constantly followed by the paparazzi and every date she went on seem to be more interested in her or her father's fame than they were of her.

She reached up to wipe the sweat off her brow. _'I'm going to kill Erasa when I see her next. Better give her a piece of her mind.'_ Videl stuck her hand in her purse and dug out her iPhone. She scrolled through her contacts until she located her blonde friend. The phone began to ring and Videl put her phone to her ear.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is!" Erasa said as soon as she answered the phone.

"Erasa you are-"

The blonde interrupted her. "Don't you 'Erasa' me! I just got off the phone with Jason. He said you went to the bathroom and never came back!"

"He started talking about-"

"I don't care what he started talking about! That's incredibly rude Vee! After I worked so hard to find him and everything!"

"Worked so hard to find him? Just where did you find this guy?"

"Tsk, tsk Videl. That's not the point! The point is I worked hard to find this guy and you had the nerve to just walk out on him!"

Videl swallowed. "I'm sorry Erasa…" Videl was left confused. Here she was calling Erasa to give her a piece of her mind, but her friend had managed to turn the conversation around on her before it had even begun.

"I'm quite upset. But.."

"But..?" Videl inquired.

"But, you can make it up to me."

"And what did you have in mind?"

"The school."

"The school?"

"Yeah. The school. Today those lousy excuses they call police officers came to assess what happened at the school and left within five minutes! I don't even think they took fingerprints!" Erasa explained irritated. "I know to them it's just a school, but these children are my life! Now they don't have a playground to play on, and I'm not sure if they could be in some sort of danger!"

Videl let out a small chuckle.

"I fail to see what's so funny Videl!" Her friend snapped threateningly through the phone.

"It's just so weird to see how much you've changed since high school. Back then all you cared about was boys and partying. Now you care about your students. It's quite refreshing actually."

"Thanks Videl. So… do you mind checking it out? Maybe do the CSI stuff I see on television all the time."

Videl laughed again. "Sure Erasa. I'll look around. But that "CSI stuff" is more for detectives."

"Well, alright… Let me know what you think. It's definitely unlike any sort of vandalism I've ever seen."

"I'll do my best! Bye Erasa."

"Bye Videl."

Videl hung up the phone and stuck it back in her purse. The school was close by so she decided to go check it out now and get the little errand over with. She was hardly wearing the appropriate garb for this particular errand but for the sake of convenience she would get it done. She started heading towards the school, her high heels making a clicking sound as she walked.

A few blocks later of walking and she arrived at the school and made her way across the grounds towards the playground. The damage to the playground was extensive, and she could make it out before she had even been close. It was in this moment that she got the peculiar feeling of being watched. Videl looked around and saw nothing. _'Huh… must have been my imagination. Too much wine at dinner.' _Videl reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, flipping on the flashlight application.

The playground did indeed look melted. It really wasn't like anything she'd ever seen. In fact, it almost seemed impossible for simple mischievous children to pull of. She reached down to touch the metal, tracing her hands down the cool surface. Something had to have burned very, very hot to make the bars look the way they did. A simple fire couldn't have done this.

A sound behind her jolted her from her thoughts and she quickly spun around. Her blue eyes met onyx. She could barely make out any feature of the man before her, except that he was tall, and had dark spiky hair with dark eyes.

"Who are you?" She growled.

The man said nothing in response. In fact, he didn't even flinch at her tone. He just kept staring at her with dark eyes.

Videl shivered. He was definitely giving her the creeps. She reached under her dress to her outer thigh to grab her handgun. Although she was well trained in martial arts and had no reason to be afraid, she wasn't sure if this man could be armed. Besides, she wasn't really in the best clothing for hand-to-hand combat.

Videl was sure she had only looked away for a split second, if that. But when she turned her gaze back to the man he wasn't there. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. She looked around frantically. "This is Videl Satan! With Satan City PD! Come out with your hands up!"

There was no response from anyone or anything, and the only sounds she heard were the sounds of her own breathing and the chirping from crickets.

'_Okay… definitely too much wine tonight.' _She thought sourly to herself as she returned her gun to her holster. The man that had previously stood before her had seemed entirely real but there was no way he could have vanished like that. Even if the whole encounter had been her imagination, she was officially spooked. _'I need some sleep.' _Videl yawned and started the short trek back to her car. '_Typical Monday luck.'_

* * *

This is my first Fanfiction. I don't have anyone to proofread my writing so I apologize if there are a ton of mistakes. Please review and let me know what you all think! Thanks ahead of time!


	2. Chapter 2 - Intrigued

Thanks for all of the review for my last chapter! I thought I would respond to them.

SaiyaStyles – Thank you! I'm glad my story has potential. And who knows if Videl can do that? ;) That's her personality to go dashing into potentially dangerous situations. This definitely won't be the only strange occurrence coming up for Miss Videl to investigate.

TheLoyalMutation – Thank you so much! That means a lot!

Maximusrexmundi – Thank you! Sorry for the spelling errors I probably need to harass my husband to proofread before I post.

Engel2092 – Thank you very much! Yeah, Yamcha is a cop in my story!

Dyton – Yeah, this is the Yamcha from the series. But this is an alternate universe. In my story he is around the same age as Videl.

Erinunu – Thank you! I will definitely do more! The positive comments are motivating!

Blazingnyancat – Yep! Still a Demi-Saiyan. We finally get to see a little of Gohan's POV in this chapter.

Heseltine – Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! And yeah, in my story Yamcha is about the same age as Videl. I am now seeing the confusion this is now causing since he was a lot older than Gohan in the actual canon DBZ series. Whoops!

Lotus Star Bloom – Thank you! Pacing is one of those things that is really hard to tell if you're doing a good job on so I'm glad I'm not doing too bad! Thank you for your kind words!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Thank you very much for the kind words! I can be quite busy with work so it's very motivating to see that people are reading and reviewing.

Chapter 2: Intrigued

Night had fallen and Gohan could finally investigate the incident at West Hercule Satan Elementary School.

The incident had happened early yesterday morning, around 5:45 AM. Gohan was suddenly jolted awake by a Ki signature sharp and powerful. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time. He had tried to ignore it, but his curiosity and urge to protect the city had him wide-awake and unable to fall back asleep. He had wanted to investigate immediately but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it had come from at the time, and he certainly didn't want to attract any attention by flying around. Many humans, especially at the school, would likely be getting up for work at that time. So Gohan had waited, and waited and waited, until finally, darkness had come and the students and teachers from the school had cleared out for the night.

He flew towards the school slowly, keeping low to the ground as to not attract any unwanted attention. The warm summer breeze felt good on his skin. He missed flying, working at Capsule Corporation kept him very busy. Not to mention, his mother and Bulma had been very insistent that he was careful to not show any humans his powers.

When he finally arrived he glanced around, trying to find any sign of damage. It didn't take him long, for the damage to the school's playground was quite extensive. He carefully lowered himself to the ground towards the destruction. Police caution tape surrounded the area and it was evident the students weren't allowed to disturb this area until it was determined to be safe. He bent over and ran his hands over the twisted and melted metal, as if doing so would unveil the mysteries of what had happened here. He sighed.

'_Maybe I should have rushed here when the incident had initially occurred. I'm careful to a fault sometimes.'_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. He quickly jumped into the air and hid out of sight, tucking himself carefully into the branches of a tree.

The person who approached wasn't anyone he was expecting to see… although, he wasn't exactly sure just who he was expecting. It was a young woman, around his age. She had delicate looking porcelain skin and bright blue eyes that he could make out even in the darkness. She had shoulder-length, well-groomed black hair and she wore a long dark-red dress. The dress had only one shoulder strap, the other side of the dress left her shoulder exposed and displayed the delicateness of her frame. To finish the outfit off she wore black high heels, which Gohan thought didn't look the least bit comfortable.

She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, flipping on the flashlight and looking around. The woman wore a determined look on her face as she scanned the area.

'_Could this be who the powerful Ki signature had come from?' _He reached out to feel for her energy and was surprised to find that she was well above the average human. He was also surprised at how warm and pleasantly inviting her energy was.

The woman seemed to sense something, perhaps in response to his blatant investigation of her Ki and looked around. Gohan silently scolded himself for being so careless. After looking around for a while, and not seeing anything, the woman shrugged and returned to focusing on the playground. She ran her fingers across the playground equipment in the same way he had done.

Gohan descended from the tree and began to approach her. He was curious as to why she was here. It had become obvious in the way that she had been just as puzzled as he was about the damage that she hadn't been the one who caused it. Before he could say anything she whipped around, her bright blue eyes meeting his.

"Who are you?" The girl growled.

Gohan resisted the urge to flinch and instead peered back at her, wondering just what to do. He was about to speak when she started to reach for something under her dress… a gun perhaps? He didn't want to stick around to find out. Although a gun could cause no harm to him, he was more afraid of his powers showing. Gohan shot into the sky as quickly and as quietly as possible. The girl now pointed a gun into the space he had occupied before. He watched as she looked around herself frantically, and then he silently prayed she wouldn't look upwards. She didn't.

"This is Videl Satan! With Satan City PD! Come out with your hands up!" She shouted in a random direction.

'_A cop? This girl's a cop?'_

She certainly didn't look like a cop. What kind of cop dresses like that anyways? _'Maybe she's on some sort of undercover mission. In any case, this is way too dangerous of a place for her to be alone at night.'_

He watched her closely as she holstered her gun, turning to leave suddenly. He could tell she was freaked out and he didn't blame her. She shouldn't be walking alone at night.

'_Mom said I should always be a gentlemen and walk a lady home… however, in this situation I believe my presence would do more harm than good. I'll at least watch her until she gets to a safe place.' _Gohan began to float after her, being as quiet as possible and keeping his Ki low. Even if the average human couldn't detect Ki, they could still get an eerie feeling of being watched.

* * *

"So? What did you think?"

"What did I think of what? The date?"

"No silly. About the damage at the playground."

Videl sighed. She had wanted to tell someone, anyone, about what had happened last night but she knew no one would believe her. She definitely wasn't in the mood to defend her sanity, especially to Erasa. "It was fine."

"What do you mean it was fine?" The blonde's voice said over the phone.

"I'm just as puzzled as you are. But it didn't seem dangerous anymore." Videl reached for the coffee from the car's cupholder and took a sip.

"What could have caused the playground to melt like that?"

In all honesty, Videl wasn't sure. She hadn't been able to sleep last night and tried doing some research. The playground was made of pure steel. The melting point of steel was around 2500°F, but most fires burned at around no more than 1800°F. At least any form of fire that a teenager could easily get ahold of. Not only that, but the heat would have had to be maintained for a long time. Videl's mind drifted to how easy it would be for a kid to obtain a flame-thro-

"Videl! Hello! Earth to Videl!"

"Oh sorry! What were you saying?" Videl said sheepishly.

"I said what could have caused the playground to melt like that?!"

Videl frowned. "I'm not really sure. I've been trying to figure that out myself. I'm going to see if I can get a crew out there today to take fingerprints, although it's highly doubtful we'll find anything. " She took another sip of coffee.

"Well, see if you can get someone out quick. We have parents demanding answers." Erasa sighed. "But anyways, I have to get back to my class. Lunch period is almost over. I'll talk to you later Vee."

"See you Erasa!" Videl pulled her phone away from her ear and pressed the button on the front to end the call.

"You know, most people consider talking on the phone when you're with someone rude."

Videl stuck her tongue out at her partner. "Oh please, we spend more time together than we do with our family and friends. You can live without talking to me for five minutes."

"Heh. Well you seem distracted even when talking to your friend. Everything okay?"

Videl swallowed. Was it that obvious? "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"What did you do last night exactly? You didn't go to that playground while off duty did you?"

"Well…"

"Videl! You were off duty! And that's dangerous! You don't know who caused that. What if they were to come back? You were by yourself, with no backup and no radio to get backup!"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down. I was fine. I can take care of myself. Besides, what is the worst that could have happened? You act like I could have been abducted by aliens or something… wait, you don't really believe in aliens do you?"

"_No!_ That's not it at all. But you really are way too addicted to work. You need to hurry and get laid."

Videl coughed on the coffee she was sipping on. She shot him a glare. "Oh yes, I'm sure the fact I am a workaholic has everything to do with not being laid in awhile." Videl stated sarcastically and then added, "I am honored to be in your presence though, love guru."

Yamcha rolled his eyes and then looked at her. "Please don't do it again. Next time I find out you pull something stupid like that I'm going to have to start keeping an eye on you even after our shift ends. No offense, but I definitely get enough of you during the day. I'd rather not spend any more time together than absolutely necessary."

"Aw, is that really how you should be talking to your future wife?"

Yamcha shook his head. "You're unbelievable, you know that right?"

"It's what makes me, me!" Videl said cheerfully. Before she could continue saying anything else a voice came over the radio, crackling every few words.

"Bank robbery…..32 South Memorium Street…. Requesting all available units…suspects armed and dangerous…"

Videl and Yamcha shared a look and nodded. Yamcha silently threw the car in drive and the sped towards Memorium Street. Videl reached up and flipped the siren and lights on.

"Get out of the way idiots." Videl growled as Yamcha skillfully weaved in between cars refusing to pull over.

They arrived within minutes and from a quick assessment of the situation it did not look good. About fifteen police cars surrounded the building, lights flashing brightly. There was an ambulance and it had become apparent that a few officers had been shot. Yamcha parked the car and the two of them hopped out.

A man in a heavily decorated police uniform approached them instantly. "Videl. Yamcha. I am relieved you made it so quickly."

"We heard the distress call over the radio and came as soon as possible. What's the situation?" Videl questioned.

"Bank robbery, about a dozen hostages, robbers are incompliant to any police requests."

"What are the robbers' demands?" It was Yamcha that asked this time.

"To be let free. If we let them go, no one will get hurt. But of course, no matter what we say, they don't trust us. They have requested one of our own come become one of their hostages. Of course, I am not willing to put one of my officers at risk so—"

"I'll do it. "

The police chief's eyes widened.

"Videl. Absolutely not." Yamcha said firmly.

"There are people's lives at risk. I have no choice." Videl was already unhooking her belt, which carried her gun and all her self-defense equipment. She unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it off, leaving her wearing a black tank top. She hastily placed her things in the arms of her worried partner.

Yamcha had wanted to protest at the sight of his partner walking away but he knew she was right. This was a terrible situation but he couldn't think of anyone more suited for this job. Videl could take care of herself. _'She might even end up arresting those crooks if she plays her cards right.'_

Videl approached the hostage negotiator, who was too busy to take notice of her presence. She reached up a gloved hand to tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

The negotiator lowered the phone away from his ear. "What is it Videl? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm going in. I was told the robbers would only give up if they had one of our own as a hostage."

He quickly covered the phone's receiver. "Videl, now isn't the time for you to play hero. Those guys are dangerous. You could get hurt."

"I'm going in either way. So either you give them a heads up I'm coming, or you risk me getting shot up by letting me surprise them."

He stared back at her, his grey eyebrows wrinkling in frustration. "Fine." He sighed and then pulled the phone back to his ear. "We'll give you what you want. We're sending one of our officers in." The negotiator then nodded in response to something the person on the other end said. "Yes, she is unarmed." He turned and gave Videl a thumbs up, as if signaling her to begin her approach.

Videl walked around a couple police cars, her arms straight up towards the sky. She approached the building slowly and very cautiously, as not to startle the robbers. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as the danger of the situation crept into her mind. When she got to the door a masked man flung the door open and grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her in. When she was through, he flung her to the ground amongst the other hostages.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen. It looks like today is your lucky day." The biggest masked man, and obviously the leader of the group of robbers spoke. "Some stupid broad has decided to take your place. "

* * *

Gohan stared at his homework. It offered no challenge to him other than to be time consuming. Absent-mindedly he reached his hand over and grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, his thoughts wandering away from the task at hand. _'Maybe some television will give my brain the break it needs so I can focus.'_ He reached his hand over and snatched the television remote he could flip the television on he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Bored with your new position already?"

Gohan turned and met the eyes of the blue-haired heiress. "Oh, Bulma. Hey."

She crossed her arms in mock annoyance. "You know, I'll be leaving you to run this place on your own soon. I trust you'll keep things together in my absence? I don't want this place to burn down, ya know."

He smiled at his father's friend. "Don't worry Bulma. I will take care of everything. I'll make sure Trunks and Goten stay out of trouble too."

She reached a hand up to rub her temples. "You can't really make any promises with those two." She then smiled at him. "I know I'm acting like a worry-wart, this whole expansion and trusting other people with my family's company is new to me. However, I couldn't think of anyone more suited to be the President of Satan City's Capsule Corporation."

Gohan's grin widened. "That means a lot you know. I won't let you down."

"I know, I know." She waved a hand dismissively. "I trust this won't interrupt with your studies at all? Your mother would kill me if your grades were to lower even a single percentile."

"For the millionth time, I'm fine. Really." Gohan shrugged. "Besides, I'm used to being distracted. My father didn't exactly believe in me being a scholar. He was always running me off onto some adventure with him."

Bulma's face saddened. "Oh Goku… it's been over ten years since you've been gone. And I still think of you everyday."

Gohan frowned. "I'm sorry Bulma… I shouldn't have brought my dad up."

"No no Gohan, it's fine." She waved her hand dismissively at him again and then yawned. "Anyways, I'm going to go take a nap. I'm leaving tomorrow and all this packing has me exhausted."

He nodded. "Yes, perhaps some rest would be best."

When he was sure the blue-haired genius had left the room, he reached over and grabbed the remote again, turning on the television. He flipped through the channels noticing that a lot of the channels had the same breaking news.

"I wonder what's going on…" He wondered aloud, settling on one of the channels.

'_We are live right now just outside of Satan City Regional Bank, where moments ago a brave young cop by the name of Videl Satan has offered to become the bank robber's hostage in exchange that they release the other hostages…' _A reporter from the television excitedly spoke. Gohan turned up the volume. _'Bravery must run in her family, as most of you probably already know, Videl is the daughter of world savior Hercule Satan…' _Gohan rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to turn the TV off at the reporter's mere mention of a certain afro-haired moron.

"Humans are ridiculous. It seems like no matter what they will always fight. Do they even know the meaning of the word 'peace'?" He was about to turn back to his homework when a sudden thought crossed his mind. _'Videl Satan? Where have I heard that name…'_

Suddenly the events from the night before came rushing back and Gohan found himself standing up suddenly._ 'It's that girl from last night. What does she think she's doing?' _He glared at Videl's face on TV in annoyance. _'This girl is an idiot. Does she enjoy putting herself in danger?'_ He sat back down and sighed, deciding to continue watching the broadcast. As much as her stupidity was starting to annoy him, he was also quite intrigued to find out what happened next.

* * *

Woo! Another chapter! Seriously, thank you so much for all the follows, reviews and favorites! It's an awesome feeling, especially since this is my first fanfiction.


	3. Chapter 3 - Criminals

Chapter 3 – Criminals

Videl fidgeted uncomfortably under the plastic zip ties that bound her hands behind her. She studied the room around her. The room had now been emptied of the rest of the hostages and the robbers were finishing up in the vault. There were three of them, the leader being the biggest. No matter how she calculated it, she couldn't figure out a safe way to escape the situation. Their attitudes were of a group that had nothing to lose. She knew they wouldn't hesitate to shoot her if she made them nervous at all. She shot her captors a glare.

"Aw… too tight for our little girly?" The bigger robber towered over her. "Don't worry, we'll be done here soon." He turned and walked toward the other two criminals. "You ready to get out of here boys? We've got quite the loot to brag about!" He turned to look back at Videl. "Plus, we got ourselves a little bonus." He winked.

Videl snarled, disgusted. '_What a bunch of pigs.' _She thought irritated to herself.

"B-boss…. Isn't that Hercule Satan's daughter?" The smallest of the group said as he visibly shook.

Videl rolled her eyes. _'Gees, even at work I can't get away from people freaking out about who my father is.'_

The leader chuckled softly. "So what if she is? Her father is just a shadow of what he used to be. I bet he couldn't even hurt a fly." He turned towards the door. "But enough jibber-jabber, it's time to leave. Jason, grab the girl."

One of the peon robbers approached her, grabbing her by her upper arm roughly and hoisting her to her feet. "Alright girly, get moving. And no funny business. Understand?"

She nodded slowly and started walking forward towards the door. The peon escorting her shoved open the door and Videl wished she could shield her eyes from the bright sunlight that bore down on her. When her eyes adjusted she once again took in her surroundings. The number of cops had doubled since she had first walked into the bank. Every cop had his or her gun drawn and ready to fire should the moment arise.

"Now now, as much as I know you would all love to blow my brains out, let's certainly not act too hasty. This beautiful girl might get hurt." He waved his automatic weapon in her direction. "Lower your weapons or I won't hesitate to shoot her." When no one complied he sighed to himself. "Why must you cops always make things so difficult?" He rubbed his temples in annoyance and then leveled a glare at the population of police officers. "You have ten seconds."

"Give us our officer ba—"

"Ten." He sharply interrupted the police chief.

"Please there is no need to—"

"Nine."

It was then that the police force realized the crazed robber wasn't messing around. They slowly lowered their weapons before he could reach zero.

"Good. Now that I see you've all come to your senses… Mr. Negotiator sir, do you have that vehicle I requested?"

The negotiator sighed in response, beckoning his fellow officers to part, revealing their getaway vehicle.

The leader took a deep breath before bellowing. "I thank you all for your cooperation but we'll be taking our leave now! We will release the girl once we are safely away from the city."

Videl knew she was in trouble. The crazed man had no intention of letting her go. She glanced around frantically looking for her partner. When she located him, all she needed to do was give him a nod and he understood. He nodded in response. Videl suddenly stopped, refusing to move.

"Hey girl, I said no funny busin—"

Videl brought her foot roughly down on his and he yelped in pain. She then raised her still bound hands, clubbing the guy roughly in the face. The man blacked out on contact. She wasted no time rushing towards the leader. Before he could even turn around she was on him, hitting the ground and swinging her legs out to take him out. He slammed onto the ground with a loud crash, his grip lost on the weapon. Videl quickly slammed her elbow into the man's skull, successfully knocking him out as well.

The third man raised his weapon to fire at her but didn't get the chance to fully ready his weapon. The sound of a gunshot rang out across the skies and a bullet struck the man's upper arm, tearing through his flesh. He cried out in pain, dropping his weapon and grabbing at his arm.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Arrest those criminals!" The chief waved a baton and pointed towards the commotion. The police forces descended on the robbers and cuffed them.

Yamcha instead approached his female partner, retrieving a pocketknife from his pants. He reached up and cut the binds that held her wrists together.

She rubbed her wrists absentmindedly, bruises already starting to form where the zip ties once had been. "Thank you Yamcha."

"You're a real idiot, you know that? You could have been killed…"

"Oh boy. Not this again. You really are a worry wart you know that?" She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not some fragile china doll."

He ignored her comment and continued. "You're always pulling crazy stunts like this. You recklessly put yourself in danger to save others. Videl, next time I'm going in. End of discussion."

She sighed irritated. "I needed you out here. You're the best shot in the city. It was important you had my back. I couldn't trust anyone else to make that shot on the last guy."

Well you do have a point… not to toot my own horn but I am a real sharpshooter-hey! Where are you going?" He yelped when he realized she was walking away.

"You know what sounds nice right now? A banana split! Vanilla, chocolate and strawberries… hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream… and that delicious cherry on top. Are you with me?"

Yamcha blinked dumbfounded. "A-are you serious?! Your life was just in danger and all you can think of is a banana split?! Besides, you can't just leave! Your shift doesn't end for another two hours!"

"Oh please. That was a walk in the park. Besides, I think I earned the rest of the day off." She didn't stop walking.

"Videl! You can't just decide you deserve the day off!"

Before she could respond the police chief approached her. "Good job today Videl!" He gave her a salute and then lowered his hand after awhile. "I think you should take the rest of the day off."

Yamcha almost fell over.

"Yes sir!" Videl saluted and when the chief had walked away she turned and gave her dumbfounded partner a smug look. "So how about that sundae?"

Yamcha sighed and followed her to their car.

* * *

Hercule Satan was fuming. The broadcast had already concluded but it didn't stop his emotions from running wild. When he had agreed to let his little daughter become a police officer he hadn't expected her to be so… reckless.

Hercule slammed his fist down on the table, slightly cracking the mahogany wood. He couldn't let this go on. He had to put a stop to her little adventures. But how? No matter how much money he offered her, she wouldn't quit her job. Whenever he brought it up, she would go on and on about protecting the people of Satan City.

And then suddenly, the world champion got an idea. He quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket, ignoring the hundreds of texts and missed calls from his loyal fans. He scrolled through his phone until he found one contact in particular.

_'The mayor.'_ He thought slyly to himself. He rarely asked for favors but in this particular situation he would make an exception. _'Anything to protect my little girl…'_ Hercule hit the call button and placed the phone to his ear. The phone rang four times and then a voice answered from the other side.

"_Hello, this is Mayor Taylor."_

"Hello mayor sir, this is Hercule Satan calling. I have a favor to ask of you."

* * *

Gohan reached for the remote and flipped the TV off. _'All that excitement and I still don't feel like doing any of this homework garbage.' _He stood up and grabbed the bowl that had once held his popcorn. Gohan then made his way to the trashcan to dump the remaining kernels.

'_Videl Satan definitely intrigues me. It's hard to believe someone so selfless could be related to that knuckle-head Hercule.'_ Gohan walked over to the sink, and rinsed his bowl out before laying it down on the counter. _'And Yamcha…'_ Gohan suppressed a laugh. _'Yamcha is quite the sharpshooter. Must have been all that training with dad and I.' _Although Goku himself would never use firearms; he had been very strict on the accuracy of their blows when sparring.

Gohan walked back over to the table, slumping down in the chair. His thoughts ran wild as he allowed himself to reminisce about the events of the past and just how exactly he had met Yamcha.

**-_Flashback_-**

Gohan was tired of doing homework. He was tired of listening to his tutor drone on and on about uninteresting topics. He was tired of sitting in his room all day everyday. So when his father had urged Gohan to sneak out, the eight year-old willingly obliged.

"Where are we going dad?" Gohan asked, the wind blowing through his hair as they flew hundreds of feet in the air.

"I don't know. I didn't really have a plan. I could tell you needed a break though."

Gohan smiled and nodded. His father and him were very alike. They both loved adventure. He knew his father was just as eager as he was to get some fresh air.

"You see that road below?" Goku slowed down his flight speed and pointed.

Gohan nodded again. "Yeah, what about it?"

"We should watch it."

"Watch it? Dad it's just a road."

Goku laughed in response. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. I mean, I keep overhearing your mother talk about the bandits that infest the road. I thought the police would take care of it by now but they haven't even lifted a finger. Maybe you and I could give those bandits a taste of justice!" He cracked his knuckles. "So… what do you say?"

"I'm in! I would definitely be down for some exercise."

The two Saiyans descended to the ground, their feet touching down on the soft dirt of the road.

"So… what now dad? It's not like anyone is going to get robbed right in front of us."

"Oh… yeah. You're probably right." The older Saiyan scratched his head and laughed. "How about we make a game out of waiting? I'll race you to town!"

Before Gohan could answer, his father took off at break neck speed. Gohan laughed and took after him, dirt flying as he kicked it up with his own inhuman speed.

It only took the pair a few minutes to reach a small roadside town. The town appeared to be a ghost land, not a single soul walked the streets.

"Man Gohan! This town is boring! Nothing is going on here at all." His father casually leaned against a telephone pole, putting his hands behind his head.

"You're telling me…hey dad, what's that behind your head?" Gohan tilted his head curiously and Goku stepped away from the telephone poll. "It's a wanted poster!" Gohan quickly scanned the information and then read it out loud. "Wanted, reward… family of roadside bandits…The Wolves. Suspects very dangerous, approach with caution. Reward for capturing the bandits dead or alive." Gohan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting… so it's a family of bandits."

Goku frowned. "Well, in any case. I am getting really hungry. I think we passed a restaurant a few blocks back. I'm going to go get some food! Would you like to come with?"

Gohan shook his head. "No dad, I'm going to take a look around. This town is eerily quiet. How can you think about food at a time like this?"

Goku's stomach growled in response and he scratched his head sheepishly. "Well I…"

"I'm kidding dad! Get me some food too while you're at it!"

Goku gave a mock salute and began walking towards whatever delicious scent was wafting through the air, leaving Gohan to his thoughts. Gohan decided to do some exploring to pass the time. He still couldn't get over the lack of activity on the town's streets. He had only walked a few blocks when his sharp Saiyan senses picked up a voice. He sprinted towards the source and ducked behind a nearby wall.

"P-please. Y-you've already taken everything. I can't even afford to feed my family anymore…" The voice was very shaky and scared sounding. Gohan allowed himself a peek. The sight before him was very disheartening. An older, gray-haired man was visibly shaking as a bigger, muscular man dressed in all black held him by the collar of his shirt with one hand. The other hand held a handgun and was pointed directly at the older man's head.

"We'll have none of your excuses old man." The cool voice came from a female, also dressed in all black. She had an automatic weapon strapped to her back.

"You have twenty-four hours to come up with the money or else your family starving to death will be the least of your worries." He roughly threw the frail man down.

Gohan had wanted to intervene but he was nervous about accidentally startling the bandits and causing a commotion where the older man might get hit by a stray bullet. He waited until he could no longer sense the black-clad couple before he approached the old man.

"Are you okay?" Gohan leaned over and put a hand on the man's back.

The man looked up, surprised. "Y-you… What are you doing out here? It's dangerous to be on the streets after curfew."

Gohan blinked and looked around. The sun still shined brightly. "Curfew? It's still midday."

The older man looked down again and shook his head. "You're not from around here are you? The curfew was set by The Wolves."

"The Wolves?"

"They're a group of bandits ran by a family in the area. They own this town and the surrounding roads."

"The police just let them run the town?"

The older man shook his head. "No police in this village kid, we're out in the middle of nowhere after all. Our little town has always been very peaceful up until recently. We have never needed a police force."

"Then who put up the posters and offered the reward?"

"That was I. I'm the town's banker. My family was better off than a lot of the families here. I was hoping to help out in any way I could." He looked around. "We really should get inside before anyone sees us."

Gohan nodded and helped him to his feet. They slowly made their way into the nearby bank.

"So… how did you find our little village? It's not exactly a tourist attraction."

"Oh… my dad and I were just passing by and decided to stop in for something to eat." Gohan lied.

"What luck to end up in a place like this…" The banker said absent-mindedly and then turned and looked the young half-Saiyan in the eyes. "If you flew in here by jet-coptor, you and your father can go to Orange Star City and get us some help!"

"I—" Gohan started but was interrupted.

"Yes! We'll finally be saved! Go to Orange Star City and get us some help. Their police force has ignored our cries for help, assuming our calls were pranks. But maybe if a young boy shows up, they would listen. If you were able to sneak into the town unnoticed, you might be able to leave!"

Before Gohan could respond the front door to the bank swung open.

"Oh hey Gohan! It took me awhile to find you. I could sense your energy but with so many buildings around… I got bored… and might have eaten your food too."

Gohan put his palm over his face. "Dad…"

"Who's the old man?"

"Dad! Manners." Gohan scolded.

"My name is Robert Wales. I am the banker of this town. I believe you and your son are the answers to our prayers."

"Huh? Answer to your prayers?"

"Yes! I won't go into the explanation about the bandits again. Your son can explain on the way. You must hurry."

Goku smiled slyly and cracked his knuckles. "If your town has a bandit problem, my son and I are more than enough to take care of it. Right Gohan?"

Gohan nodded eagerly. "Right!" He stood up to stand next to his father.

"But...!" Robert began to protest.

"Let's go Gohan!"

"You got it! I'll show you the direction the bandits went when they left." They both excitedly jogged out the door leaving the banker dumbfounded.

They didn't have to jog too far when they came to a more run-down part of town. Graffiti littered the walls and a disgusting smell filled the air. "Well… if these bandits are anywhere, they would have to be here. This area looks awful." Gohan said sadly.

"Hey! YOU TWO!" A voice boomed behind them. "What do you think you're doing?! By order of The Wolves, no one is to be out on the streets at this time." Both turned to see yet another man dressed in an all black uniform.

"Huh? Why not?" Goku questioned confused.

The man didn't answer, and instead grabbed Goku's hands and slapped a pair of handcuffs on them. He turned to Gohan and did the same. Gohan didn't even try to run or resist. "You two are coming with me. Just because you are outsiders is no excuse. You can read all the signs can't you?"

The two Saiyans were led to an old warehouse building. The bandit reached into his pocket and pulled a key out. He unlocked the door and slid it open. They were led through an elaborate maze of hallways until they came to one brightly lit door. Their captor leaned forward and knocked.

"Come in." The cool female voice Gohan recognized from earlier spoke.

Their captor slowly pushed the door open. What Gohan and Goku saw was a bit of surprise. The room was large and well lit. Fancy red carpet was rolled over the floor. There was expensive looking décor and drapery throughout the room. In the middle, sitting in what could only be described as thrones, a couple sat sipping on wine. A younger boy sat by their feet, staring at his hands. "Preston, what could be so important that you bother us at this hour? My family is enjoying some quality time together." She swirled the wine in her glass.

"Madame, I found these two roaming around outside near the warehouse. They were blatantly disobeying the curfew we set for the people of this town."

"Interesting." It was the man who spoke this time. "Tell me sir, why did you and the young kid with you break the rules I set forth for this city? Do you have a death wish?"

Goku smiled. "Quite the opposite. My son and I came to take care of you guys. You've been terrorizing this town way too long."

The couple of bandits threw back their heads and laughed. "Take care of us? You and what army?"

Goku's smile widened. "I don't need an army. My young son is enough to take care of you guys for good. I won't even need to lift a finger."

They stopped laughing. The man slammed his fist into the armrest of his chair. "Fool! Do you know whom you speak to? We are The Wolves! The greatest criminal group the world has ever seen. It only took our group just a few months to take over this pathetic town. Our numbers are continually growing!"

"It took a few months?" Goku whistled. "That's not something I would be bragging about."

"Silence! It's time we teach you worthless outsiders what The Wolves are all about! Yamcha!"

The young boy who had been previously staring at his hands looked up, his expression somewhat surprised.

"Since you seem to think it's fun to insult our group, I will also just use my son to fight you."

Yamcha stood up and lowered himself into a fighting stance.

"Fine with me." Goku nodded at his son. "Gohan?"

Gohan nodded to his dad. "Yes sir."

"Father, remove his handcuffs. I want this to be a fair fight." Yamcha commanded. "I want the boy to have no excuses for being completely pummeled into the ground."

The older bandit scratched his chin. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Preston, remove the boy's handcuffs."

"Yes sir." The man stepped forward and brandished a key, removing the binds from Gohan's hands.

"Good. Now that that's all taken care of you may start at the count of three." His grin widened. "One."

Gohan also lowered himself into a fighting stance.

"Two."

'_Don't take him lightly,'_ Gohan thought to himself. _'His ki is very strong.'_

"Three. Begin!"

Yamcha rushed forward so quick Gohan almost didn't have time to bring his hands up to block the kick. Before Gohan could launch into a counter-attack the young bandit was already bringing his other foot up to try to land a kick on to his face. Gohan leaned backwards and quickly dodged, Yamcha's foot brushing the hairs on Gohan's head. Gohan rolled forward and underneath Yamcha, springing back onto his feet and aiming a punch towards the back of Yamcha's head. The bandit sensed the attack coming though and dodged the attack easily with a slight tilt of his head. Yamcha forced his elbow back right into his attacker's stomach, knocking Gohan back.

'_Ouch…'_ Gohan grabbed his stomach.

"Gohan! Don't take your opponent lightly."

"Yes sir!" Gohan wheezed, trying to catch his breath after the sharp blow to his stomach.

"Give up kid. No one can beat me." Yamcha mocked.

"Kid? You can't be any older than I am." Gohan smirked. "Besides, it is you that should give up. I only let you hit me because I underestimated you. It won't happen again."

"We'll see about that. I'm looking forward to pummeling you to the ground." Yamcha beckoned Gohan to attack and Gohan obliged, rushing forward.

This time, it was Gohan's turn to catch him by surprise. With a yell he swiftly landed an uppercut, knocking the bandit backwards. Gohan followed up his attack with a kick into Yamcha's ribs.

"Oof!" Yamcha coughed, barely catching himself from falling. He shot the young half-Saiyan a glare. "I wasn't expecting that. There's more to you than meets the eye, kid."

"And there's more where that came from." Gohan smirked again.

The blows between the two boys continued back and forth, with no boy clearly having the advantage.

Finally, slightly out of breath, Yamcha smiled. "It's been a long time since I've had to use this technique."

Gohan's eyes widened as Yamcha disappeared from view. He suddenly appeared behind the demi-Saiyan.

"_Wolf Fang Fists!"_

"What?!" Gohan wasn't ready for the attack at all and was suddenly struck by a barrage of blows. He was quickly struck over and over with no chance of blocking any of the attacks. Yamcha finished the attack by bringing his palm firmly into Gohan's face. Gohan flew back, crashing through a nearby wall.

The bandit couple threw back their heads and laughed shamelessly. "That's what you get for insulting The Wolves! Your son is now dead." The male leader said amused.

Goku couldn't contain his smile.

"What's so funny? Is it that amusing that your son is dead?"

"Gohan isn't dead. Far from it actually."

"What are you saying? No one can survive that att—"

"Masenko-HA!"

From the rubble came a flash of light as a powerful ki blast struck Yamcha knocking him through the opposite wall.

"WHAT?! HOW DID HE?!"

Gohan slowly emerged, a smirk on his face. "I have quite the bad habit of underestimating my opponent. I didn't expect him to use a ki attack." He reached up and scratched the back of his head in typical Son fashion.

"You-!" The bandit leader quickly reached for a gun from his belt. "I'll kill you, you freak!" He shakily aimed the gun at the young demi-Saiyan's head. Before he could fire however, a fist struck his face.

"Stay out of this…this is my fight…." Yamcha weakly punched his own father across the face.

The older bandit retaliated, quickly bringing his hand back to slap his son across the face. "I'll kill you too, you worthless brat!" He pointed the gun at the kid and fired, his wife gasping at the action.

Yamcha blinked rapidly, wondering how he was still alive. He realized that his opponent's father was holding him and that he was suddenly across the room. "Gohan?" The man said.

Gohan nodded "Right!" The young half-Saiyan cupped his hands to his sides. "Ka-me-ah-me-HA!" He brought his hands forward and a powerful blast exploded from them, completely demolishing the outer wall.

Both Saiyans rushed out, Goku still carrying a weakened Yamcha. They leapt into the air, shocking the three bandits left on the ground.

"Stop your meaningless acts of terrorism against the poor people of this city. My son and I will return soon. If you and your fellow bandits aren't gone, I will personally see to it that you suffer a direct hit from my Kamehameha blast. And if you thought my son's was scary, just wait until you see mine."

The group nodded, visibly shaking. "W-what are those two?"

Goku and Gohan quickly flew away, taking off towards Orange Star City. "Gohan, we need to get this kid to a hospital. "

Gohan nodded in response.

"You…you guys can fly…"

"You okay, kid?" Gohan asked, ignoring the barely-conscious bandit's comment. "Your father just tried to kill you…"

Yamcha didn't respond, instead he slipped out of consciousness.

_**-End flashback-**_

'_That was so long ago. It's hard to believe how many years have passed since that happened.' _Gohan leaned back in his chair and thought to himself.

After the Son boys had taken Yamcha to the hospital in Orange Star City, they discovered he had grandparents in town that were more than willing to take him in. The grandfather ironically served as the police chief for the city, which potentially had something to do with Yamcha's career choice.

Yamcha and Gohan remained friends and rivals from that point on. Goku would often take the boys out to train out in the mountains. He taught them further ki control and would spar with them from time to time. Yamcha stopped training once he reached junior high, claiming that Gohan was already too far ahead of him.

Gohan was suddenly jolted from his thoughts, his eyes fluttering open. He felt it an instant too late. The loud sound of an explosion filled his ears and he was roughly thrown into the wall.

* * *

Whew! Another chapter. Most of my reviews were asking for a backstory on the Yamcha featured in my story. I want to remind everyone that my story takes place in an alternate universe. I wanted Gohan and Videl to have a mutual friend connecting them. I like Yamcha's personality but I needed to figure out how he would meet our favorite demi-Saiyan. This chapter was the result! I know everyone is probably wondering where all the GohanxVidel content is… well it's coming!

Next chapter: Gohan and Videl have a conversation. We find out what Hercule's plan was. And we'll learn more details on the explosion that caught poor Gohan off guard.

As always, please don't forget to read and review! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4 - Déjà vu

Chapter 4: Déjà vu

Gohan blinked as his eyes adjusted to his now dark surroundings. The only sounds being heard with the faint noise of running water and crickets chirping enthusiastically. A sharp pain in his head slowly brought the memory of the explosion rushing back. He growled and stood up, easily lifting the large pieces of debris that covered his body. A slight worry crept itself into his thoughts as he concerned himself over the safety of his brother and friends. He closed his eyes and felt around for their familiar kis and was relieved to find all of them in tact and relatively unharmed. His worry was replaced with anger as his Saiyan instincts were telling him to find the offender and tear them to shreds. Gohan couldn't keep his eyes from glowing teal and it took everything in him to not lose himself to the anger he felt and transform. He calmed himself taking long, deep breaths.

"Gohan!" A faint female voice called.

Gohan normalized his breathing and glanced in the direction the voice had come from.

"Gohan! Where are you?" Gohan finally recognized the distressed voice as Bulma.

"I'm here, Bulma!" He called back, using his heightened senses to look for her.

"Ah, there you are!" The blue-haired woman approached him in the darkness. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Where are Trunks, Vegeta and Goten?" He said simply, still trying to keep his anger under control.

"I knew I shouldn't have been worried about you. And they're over this way," She pointed in the direction directly behind her. "They're already taking a look around…. I don't understand who would do this! But Vegeta says it's definitely a ki attack."

Gohan's eyes narrowed in concentration. _'If it was a ki attack, how did none of us sense it coming until it was too late?'_

"Argh!" Bulma growled, bringing Gohan out of his thoughts. "I can't believe this. We were going to launch this location soon too!" She stomped her foot.

Gohan frowned. "I'm sorry Bulma… I promise we'll find who did this though. And when we do, they will pay." Gohan couldn't keep the flash of teal from flickering in his eyes as he uttered the threat. No one could attack his friends and family without facing his wrath.

Bulma sighed and reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone. "I guess I'll go ahead and put in the 911 call to the useless police force of Satan City." Bulma knew this wasn't the kind of thing the police force could help with, but she knew if she didn't at least say something to the police department it would look suspicious.

* * *

Videl shifted nervously in her seat. She wasn't sure what the police chief wanted to meet with her about but the sudden meeting had her anxious. In the few years she had been with the station, she had only been asked to meet with the police chief once, and it wasn't for a good reason. She had once gotten carried away while teaching some crooks a lesson with her fists and gotten in huge trouble over it. So when the chief sent her an urgent e-mail asking to meet first thing in the morning before her shift started, she understandably had stressed all morning.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl to the minutes leading up to the meeting time. Finally, the police chief opened the door and beckoned her in. Videl stood up and followed him into the office. He shut the door behind them.

"Videl, please. Take a seat." He raised a hand and gestured towards an open seat across from his desk.

"Yes sir." She walked over to the chair and sat down.

"So Videl, do you know why I asked to meet with you today?"

She shifted in her seat nervously. "Honestly sir, no."

He let out a chuckle. "Videl, don't be so nervous. Today we meet for a good reason. He crossed his arms.

"Sir?"

"Videl, you've only been here a few years but I've already seen you become a fine officer. We've had very few incidents with you and you seem to legitimately care about the job."

"Sir I—"

He ignored her and continued. "As you know, our profession doesn't always attract the greatest of people. Satan City Police Department has had problems with corruption for as long as I can remember. When you initially joined our police force I'll admit I was a little nervous. Your father holds a lot of power so there was a lot of room for you to get away with the things your coworkers wouldn't. You never once took advantage of that. You always had the people's best interests in mind and worked hard to protect them."

Videl paused and then smiled slightly. "Thank you sir. Your words mean a lot to me. I'm not sure where you're going with this though."

He smiled back and then reached into his desk pulling out a badge. "Your determination to always do your best to help the people of this city hasn't gone unnoticed. I would like to be the first to congratulate you on your new position… Detective Satan." He reached over towards her with the badge in her hand.

Videl, still shocked, raised a hand as well to accept the badge. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Are you sure?" She said uncertainly.

The chief nodded confidently. "I'm very sure. Is something wrong? Are you not happy?"

Videl shook her head. "I'm very happy! Just a little… shocked. I felt like there were much better candidates for this position… Not that I doubt you at all... I just…" She mumbled on.

The chief raised his hand to stop any further babbling from the young woman. "Videl, please trust me. You've earned this. You need to accept the promotion. Besides, you are due to meet with Lieutenant Megumi in…" He checked his wristwatch, "A little less than 4 minutes. You had better get a move on if you don't want to be late to your first meeting."

She nodded, still a bit unsure of herself. "Y-yes sir. I'll do my best." Videl stood up and walked towards the door. She turned and gave the chief one last salute before exiting the office and closing the door behind her. She stood frozen outside the door and swallowed. '_Okay… seriously? What the hell was that? Any why me?_' She shook her head. _'Out of all people that could have possibly earned this promotion, why me? There are easily way more qualified candidates available. And yet…' _She shook her head. _'No… I can't get carried away. I can worry about this later. I have to meet with my new lieutenant.'_

Videl hurried off towards the break room to grab a quick cup of coffee. This meeting was important, but she would definitely need her caffeine if she wanted to be in the least bit useful to her new group.

* * *

Videl tilted the steering wheel and turned into Capsule Corporation Satan City… or at least where it had been. All that was left of the building was a heap of debris.

Her mind was still reeling from the earlier briefing with her new lieutenant and team. The 911 call had come in early last night. Police were immediately dispatched to the area and a bomb squad had been called in. It had taken hours to determine that the area was safe for detectives to enter and begin their own investigation.

Videl pulled in behind another squad car and threw the car into park. She slowly opened up the door and stepped out into the warm, humid summer air. Almost immediately her lieutenant and fellow detectives approached.

"You ready for your first case?" Lieutenant Megumi inquired. "It certainly isn't going to be easy. The circumstances at first glance are bizarre. And Capsule Corporation is such a high-profile company… there's no way this news isn't going to be all over the world in just a few hours."

Videl swallowed and nodded. "So where do I start?"

"You can start by interviewing the witnesses. The Briefs family wasn't here at the time of the explosion… there's no way they could have been because no one could survive a blast like that… but maybe they have some ideas on who could want to take them down. Also, I believe the new manager of Capsule Corporation Satan City is here. It's a little suspicious that a day after he took this position a catastrophe like this occurs. Find out what you can and report back to me." Megumi commanded.

Videl nodded again. "Should I bring another detective with me? This is my first time doing this job after all..."

Megumi shook her head. "No, having to speak to one more person at a time can be intimidating for a witness. We want them to be as open as possible. Just be yourself. Have a natural conversation with them. But keep the conversation on topic."

"Got it. Do you know where they're at?"

"Other side of the building debris." Megumi turned and pointed.

Videl set out to find her star witnesses. At this point, the police department had absolutely no leads. A team of forensic detectives had been called in to see if they could find any fingerprints or any sort of evidence as to where the explosion had come from. Their searching had turned up nothing so far. A lot was resting on her interview with the witnesses. Videl just hoped she wouldn't mess anything up.

'_Ugh…. Why me? I never asked for this. Why do I have to be the person who interviews the witnesses in such a high-profile case?'_

It didn't take long for Videl to reach the other side of the debris. She was still nervous and unsure on where to even start. To her relief, she recognized Bulma Briefs, the young heiress to the Capsule Corporation. Videl had seen her on many TV advertisements and documentaries. She had also seen her at many of the upper-class parties Videl had attended with her father. Bulma was revered as a genius like her father, but was also said to be quite friendly and approachable. Videl made up her mind to start with her and slowly approached. Bulma was already being asked questions by a fellow police officer and looked quite bored to be doing so.

"I'll take things from here, sir." Videl interjected.

The police officer looked at her. "Oh yeah Videl. Go ahead."

Bulma sighed as the police officer walked away. "Look Miss Satan, I've already answered the same questions about a thousand times. I know you're just doing your job but I can't help you with anything more than I've already said."

Videl cleared her throat and pulled out a notepad and pen. "I know, and I apologize. I'm an actual detective though so it's important that you answer my questions. I'll be the last person today, I promise." She then frowned. "I know today has been rough for you. I can't imagine what you must be going through but that's why I'm here to help you."

Bulma sighed again. "Alright, I understand. Ask away."

Videl nodded. She was nervous about interviewing her first witness as an official detective but she made her voice sound as official as possible. "So what exactly happened last night?"

"Well, Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten and I had gone over to my friend Chichi's house for dinner. We had just gotten back and were approaching the building when the explosion happened." Bulma lied. She had to make it sound like none of them were around because it would be impossible to explain how the five of them could have survived an explosion of that magnitude. She knew Chichi would collaborate her story of the police went to her.

"Who are Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan and Goten?" Videl asked.

Bulma made a gesture in the guys' direction, pointing them out. "Vegeta is my husband, Trunks is my son, Gohan is a friend, and Goten is his little brother."

Videl glanced over to the group of guys. They were standing around; each wore a scowl on their face and were looking even more irritated than Bulma if it were possible.

"How did you meet Gohan and Goten?"

"I was very close friends with their father. We met when we were both pretty young. Gohan is who I appointed to run this location in my absence." She sighed. "I feel so bad… we didn't even get to launch and this happens…"

Videl jotted down some notes. "Do you know what exactly caused the explosion? The nature of the damage is a bit… unusual." '_In fact, I've seen it before. Like the playground that night…'_ She thought the last part to herself.

"If I did, I wouldn't be talking to you guys."

"No crazy experiments by any of your employees? Any capsule technology that could have gone wrong during creation?"

"No, the place hadn't even been launched yet. We just got through with the hiring process. The original plan was to launch the building today actually. As you can see, that's not going to happen." Bulma crossed her arms.

"Well then, do you have any idea who could have done this? Anyone that would want to harm your family or your company? A disgruntled ex-employee? An old family enemy?"

"I can't think of one person that comes to come to mind. My family has always been kind and treated our employees with respect."

Videl nodded. It was true, she had always heard about the Briefs family and their incredible treatment of their employees. In fact, they donated more to charity than any other company on Earth. They were kind people. It was hard to imagine anyone would want to harm them.

"Thank you for your time Mrs. Briefs. " Videl did a slight bow and started to head towards the group of guys. She wanted to interview Gohan and Goten, figuring Trunks and Vegeta would have about the same answers as Bulma.

"You bet. Oh and Videl," Bulma reached up to touch the detective's arm slightly, stopping her. "I know you're going to talk to Gohan now. I want you to know that he's a great guy and is normally very polite. You'll have to excuse his gruff behavior, today has been a very rough day and he's very protective of my family."

Videl looked back and nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind." She resumed walking towards the boys. _'Why is she going out of her way to defend him before I've even talked to him? It's a little suspicious.' _When she finally reached the group, she tried to make her voice sound as official as possible. "Gohan, I would like to ask you a few questions."

He nodded, not looking at her and began to separate himself from the group. She followed, ready to begin her interrogation.

"Alright, let's get this over with." He said, crossing his arms, still refusing to make eye contact with her.

Videl glared at him. "There is no need for the attitude sir. I'm just doing my job."

He nodded but said nothing. Videl took it as her cue to begin asking questions.

"Okay, so where were you when the incident occurred?" Videl asked, trying to see if his and Bulma's stories matched up.

"We were coming back from my mother's house. We were approaching the house when we heard and felt the explosion."

"Any idea who or what caused it?"

"No idea. Your guess is as good as mine." He said simply and shrugged.

Videl was getting really tired of his attitude. She decided to try to get a reaction out of the man. Maybe he would slip up and tell her something he hadn't meant to if she got him upset enough. "I'm sure there is some sort of insurance payout for the Briefs in this situation. Am I wrong? Know of any financial issues they might have currently where they would need some cash?"

Videl's offensive questioning worked. His nostrils flared slightly and if she wouldn't have known better, she could have swore his eyes flickered an unnatural teal for a split second. He turned to fully face her.

"You're not actually suggesting…" He started to growl and then his eyes widened. He blinked a couple times as realization set in. "You're that girl from earlier…"

Videl blinked herself. Suddenly acknowledging that she did have a peculiar feeling of déjà vu while speaking to the man. When his eyes made contact with hers she swallowed involuntarily, her heart skipping a beat momentarily. "I'm that girl from earlier?" She said lamely, finally finding her words. "Do I know you?"

"Oh… no… I mean. We've never met. I just saw you on television yesterday. You saved all those hostages. That was quite the impressive feat if I do say so myself." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

Videl wasn't buying his innocent attitude. She had seen him before she just couldn't remember where from. "Are you sure I don't know you from anywhere? You look so familiar."

He frowned. "I'm not really sure what you mean..."

Gohan was suddenly interrupted by a hand patting his back roughly. "Ah Gohan! There you are! I've been looking for you. And I see you've met my partner Videl!"

"Yamcha!" Videl growled. "I'm conducting an investigation here!"

"Oh yeah. Sorry Videl! Congratulations on that new promotion, by the way."

She blushed. "Thank you… but seriously I'm working here! Wait, you know Gohan?" Her eyes twinkled curiously.

"Aw come on Videl. Is that how you treat your old partner? It's been less than a couple hours and you're already treating me like dirt!"

Videl growled. "Yamcha…"

Gohan's eyes keep darting back and forth watching with interest the interaction between the two of them.

"Anyways Gohan, you'll be needing a place to stay tonight right? I have an extra bed at my place you can crash at." He put an arm around the young Saiyan's shoulders.

Gohan smiled slightly. "Sorry Yamcha, I'd love to but I can't leave my younger brother."

"Your brother will be fine." It was Bulma who spoke this time. She suddenly had joined the group once she noticed the atmosphere of a formal interview had disintegrated. "We will just head back to Capsule Corporation West City and figure out what to do tomorrow. It's been a long night and day. None of us have gotten any sleep. You need to relax and spend some time with people your own age.

"But..."

"No buts. You're just like your father was. You put too much on your own shoulders. Just relax, we will figure out who's behind the attacks and we'll get it taken care of. Just have some fun for once."

Gohan swallowed and then nodded.

"So then it's settled then! Gohan, you're staying with me tonight!" Yamcha did a fist pump.

Videl cleared her throat. "Excuse me, I think you all are forgetting that I'm trying to conduct a formal interview here. Gohan isn't free to go anywhere until I'm done talking to him."

Yamcha lost his smile. "Oh come on Videl, Gohan is very tired. Can't you just interview him tonight? Tell you what, I'll take him back to my place so he can get some rest and you can come over tonight and talk to him then. That way he'll be at his best to answer questions."

Videl narrowed her eyes. "I can't even begin to tell you all the things wrong with what you're saying. I'm not supposed to interview anyone off the clock. Besides, the memories are fresh in his mind now. The interview needs to happen now."

Gohan sighed. "I'll admit Miss Satan, I am quite tired. I've been up over twenty-four hours now. I might remember better once I can rest a bit."

Defeated, Videl stuck her notepad and pen back in her bag. "Well, I can't force you to talk to me now. But this interview better happen tonight. We need to make sure everything is fresh in your mind. If there's any chance we are going to catch the people responsible for this act, we'll have to act fast."

Gohan nodded.

"So then it's settled then. Videl meet us at my place tonight." Yamcha declared as he led Gohan away.

* * *

And yet another chapter! Once again, I apologize for all the grammar and spelling mistakes, as I do not have a proofreader. Thank you so much for all the reviews! I read every single one and take them to heart. Please read and review this chapter! See you soon!


	5. Chapter 5 - Interrogation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its characters. This includes Gohan, unfortunately.**

**Special thanks to TheLoyalMutation** for volunteering to proofread my writing for me. I've never written a Fanfiction (or story for that matter) until now so it's nice to have someone look over my writing for me.

Also, a special thanks to everyone who supports my story. I am a very busy person so sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to keep writing. Every follow, favorite and review truly means the world to me. That being said, please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5: Interrogation

Videl tiptoed up the stairs towards Yamcha's apartment, the wood creaking loudly in protest with each step. She knew interviewing a witness off the clock was a big no-no but Yamcha had been so insistent.

'_Stupid Yamcha…'_ She thought to herself, shaking her head. She couldn't blame everything on Yamcha though, she was also curious to talk to Gohan so she could figure out why he seemed so familiar to her. When his eyes had locked with hers… her heart had skipped a beat and she didn't understand why. Was it fear? She couldn't remember a time where anyone had that kind of effect on her. Whatever experience she must have shared with him previously must not have been a pleasant one. Videl finally came to the door and raised a shaky fist up to knock on the door. _'Dammit Videl, you were fine up until you got here. You're a mess.' _She took a deep breath and knocked, the noise of her fist hitting the wood echoing throughout the hallway.

Videl felt like minutes had gone by before the door slowly opened, creaking throughout the movement.

Yamcha's head popped through the doorway, taking the sight of her in and blinking. "Ah! You came Videl! I barely recognized you without your uniform on."

"Of course I came. I have a job to do, and save your breath. We've hung out enough times outside of work for you to see me without my uniform on."

Yamcha was about to make a playful joke about Videl not wearing clothes but decided against it. He wasn't in the mood to die a horrid, long and painful death.

"So… can I come in? Or are you going to make me stand here all night? I have a job to do you know."

"Oh, right." He scratched his head sheepishly. "Come on in." Yamcha stepped away from the doorway to allow her room to pass through.

When she entered the apartment she turned to face him. "So, where is he?"

"Take a seat on the couch. I'll call for him." Yamcha started heading towards the hallway of his apartment.

Videl walked over and sat down on the couch. She was surprised with how comfy the couch was. _'At least he has good taste in something.' _She looked around, taking in her surroundings. She had hung out with Yamcha plenty of times but never actually been to his apartment. There were pictures placed throughout the living room, many of Yamcha with his grandparents. There was one in particular that caught her eyes. The picture was obviously taken in the summertime, the sun shone brightly in the background. The sky was a beautiful blue and clear of any clouds and the grass was as vibrant as can be. Mountains peaked in the background for miles. The thing that caught her eye about the picture was the two pictured. A young Yamcha and an obviously younger version of Gohan, both were smiling, arms around each other's shoulders in a very carefree way. Videl couldn't help but smile at how happy the two were in the picture. '_I guess they've been friends for quite awhile… now I can see why Yamcha was so reluctant to have me question Gohan back at Capsule Corporation. Yamcha trusts him.'_

"Enjoying yourself?"

Videl jumped slightly and looked up to meet Yamcha's stare. He stood there with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised and an amused look on his face. Gohan stood behind him, his expression neutral. Videl shifted nervously. "Just waiting on your lazy ass. You two took your sweet time getting in here."

Yamcha's eyes twinkled in amusement but he said nothing in response, instead he turned to his half-Saiyan friend. "Take a seat Gohan, I'll leave the two of you alone." He stepped out of his way and beckoned towards an open spot on a recliner facing Videl's position. Gohan nodded and strolled over to his spot. "If you two need anything, don't hesitate to call." They both nodded in response and Yamcha disappeared down the hallway.

When Videl heard the door close to confirm they were now alone, she turned to face her witness. She noticed he had changed clothes since she last saw him at Capsule Corporation. He looked much more relaxed. He wore a plain white t-shirt with a V-neck, and a pair of black sweatpants that bore the Capsule Corporation logo. To complete the outfit his feet donned a pair of black slippers. Videl couldn't help by admire his physique. She had to admit he took care of himself. He was heavily muscled but not to the point of being bulky and unattractive.

"Miss Satan." Gohan bowed respectfully before finally sitting down. "You'll have to excuse my behavior earlier. I know it's no excuse, but I was a little on edge from the stress and lack of sleep. I would be happy to answer any and all questions you may have to help with your investigation."

Videl nodded, reaching into her bag to retrieve her notebook and a pen. "I understand. Today has been a long day for you and the Briefs. I hope I didn't come off as unsympathetic." She smiled slightly, despite the situation. "This is my first time doing this… being a detective, that is… I'm not really sure how to act."

He smiled in response. "Well, I think you're doing a great job."

Videl couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. Even if she had just met the guy a few hours earlier, it was nice knowing someone thought she was doing a good job. The promotion had come so unexpectedly and out of the blue that she hadn't exactly mentally prepared herself for all the extra responsibility. "Thank you Mister….?"

"The last name is Son. But please, just call me Gohan."

"Right," she nodded, setting the notepad on her lap and clicking her pen. "Let us begin then. Gohan, can you recall the events of the night before?"

"Trunks, Goten, Bulma, Vegeta and I had just finished eating a meal over at my mother's. We were walking towards the house and were just a few blocks away when we heard the explosion."

"What did the explosion sound like?" Videl asked, trying to pry any more clues about the mysterious explosion.

Gohan put a hand up to his chin, focusing. "Hmm… If I had to describe it, it kind of sounded like lightning struck the building."

"Like thunder?"

"Yeah, sort of. I'm not sure how else to describe it." He frowned.

"It's fine. You're doing great. So do you have any idea who would want to harm the Briefs family or you and your brother?"

Gohan honestly had no idea. Bulma and her family were some of the nicest people he had ever met... well, except for Vegeta, but that was beside the point. Goten and himself, however, well let's just say their father had plenty of enemies he had left behind when he died. "I have no idea." He said finally, deciding that even if his father's enemies were after blood, they were the kind of beings that the police couldn't help against.

"How about any disgruntled employees? Anyone that would be angry at his or her employer?"

He shook his head, "Not that I know of, we hadn't even opened that location yet. There wasn't enough time for anyone to even be disgruntled at that point. Besides, Capsule Corporation is ranked as one of the best places in the world to work at."

"How about during the interviewing process? Did anyone stand out as unusual?"

He leaned back and shook his head again. "Nope, no one stood out. Well, not in a 'you've-got-mental-issues' sort of way at least."

Videl suppressed a laugh. "How about that day? See anyone unusual? See anyone you wouldn't normally see outside your daily routine?"

He thought about it for a few seconds and finally said, "No, in fact I was at my mother's most of the time. I was studying for a big exam I have coming up."

"What about your brother? How old is he?"

"Goten? He's twelve. Since the summer was coming to an end he was about to start school here."

"Hm… so there's no chance he might have some enemies from school?"

"Nope, no chance. He's never been to public school before. This year was going to be his first. Trunks would also be attending school with him."

Videl nodded, wondering what else to ask. There unfortunately wasn't a lot to go on in her investigation at this point. A forensics team was still combing the wreckage for clues.

"Is that all?" Gohan said, breaking the long silence.

She swallowed and then nodded slowly.

"Well, that wasn't very many questions."

"I trust you." She said without hesitation. "I can tell when people are lying or when they have something to hide. You're a very straightforward person. Besides, Yamcha trusts you. And I trust Yamcha more than anyone else on this planet." Videl wasn't sure on whether or not to be angry with herself. She was making a terrible detective. Just hours ago, she was so convinced Gohan was guilty of something that she had blindly said some very insensitive things. And yet, she had easily changed her mind after seeing a stupid childhood picture of her partner and her witness.

"Well I can assure you Miss Satan, your trust was not misplaced. If I hear anything, you'll be the first to know."

"Videl."

"Hm?"

"You can call me Videl. If you will be in town for a while I know we will be seeing a lot more of each other. Especially if you plan on hanging around my idiotic partner while you're here."

He chuckled. "Yes, well, since my home was destroyed, I'm sure that idiotic partner of yours and I will be together a lot." He stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and retrieved a glass before walking to the sink and filling it with water. "Videl, would you like some water?" Gohan said without looking at her.

"Yes please, all of this talking has my throat dry."

He nodded and filled a glass up for her as well.

"I swear I know you from somewhere Gohan. I can't shake the feeling that we've met before."

"I'm not really sure where from Miss Videl." He said as he handed her a glass. "I feel like we've just met."

She gratefully accepted the water. "I'm not really sure where either, but I know I'll think of it eventually."

He laughed. "I must just have one of those faces. I'm almost certain we've never met. My family comes from the mountains. This is really my first time living in the city."

"Well, the city sure has been kind to you." She said sarcastically and took a sip of her water.

Gohan chuckled bitterly, "That it has. I'm starting to think there's a reason my brother and I never lived in the city."

"So how do you know Yamcha?"

He sighed and sank back into his spot in the recliner. "It's a very long story."

"Well, it just seems like your friendship between the two of you is highly unlikely. The closest mountain region is over three hundred miles away and Yamcha has lived in Satan City his whole life."

"The world is a smaller place than you might think Videl. Besides, Yamcha hasn't always lived in the city."

Videl looked up when she heard that. "He hasn't? But his grandfather was the police chief of Satan City Police Department. I figured him and his family had always lived here."

"That," he raised his glass pointing at her, "is a story you'll need to ask Yamcha about."

"And what about you? What brings a pair of brothers out of the mountains to live in Satan City?"

"A variety of things, school, friends, work…"

"Oh yeah, that's right. How does someone with the influence of Bulma Briefs end up hiring some mountain boy?"

"That's also a long story, but Bulma and my father were friends growing up."

"Oh yeah, I remember Bulma mentioning something about that. I just mean, running a whole branch of Capsule Corporation seems like hardly the kind of favor you give to an friend's unqualified kid." She said and then added, "No offense."

"True. But who said he was unqualified? He is currently studying for his third PhD." Yamcha suddenly strolled in. "Also, just because he's from the mountains doesn't mean he hasn't seen his fair share of the world."

"Oh boy, look what the cat dragged in. I was wondering when you would show your face again." Videl smirked. "Besides, you don't really expect me to believe this guy over here has three PhDs." She set her water down and eyed her witness in disbelief.

"Well, actually I only have two. I'm working on my third one." Gohan said meekly.

"Oh, come on!" Yamcha playfully smacked the young demi-Saiyan on the back causing him to flinch. "Don't be so modest all the time Gohan."

"You mean you really have two PhDs? Just how old are you anyways?!" Videl's jaw dropped.

"He's twenty-four years old Videl, just like you. Oh, might I add that he's single as well?"

Gohan who had been taking a sip of his water at that exact moment coughed a little.

Videl growled, standing up suddenly. "So that's why… you…. YAMCHA!"

"Why I what? I didn't do anything wrong!" Yamcha yelped.

"That was your plan all along! You wanted me to come here and talk to Gohan!"

"What I wanted was for you to do your damn job! I was trying to be helpful!'

Videl opened her mouth to say something in response but then decided against it. Instead she reached for her bag, stuffing the notebook and pen back inside. After awhile she finally spoke. "You're right. I was just doing my job, and now that it's over with, I should be going." She swung her bag back over her shoulders. "Goodbye Gohan, it was nice to meet you." She turned and leveled a glare at Yamcha. "Goodbye Yamcha, I will see you tomorrow at work." She threw the last bit out threateningly.

He gulped, raising his arm and then waving it weakly. "Yeah, I'll see you then."

Videl stomped towards the door; grabbing the knob and swinging it open violently before stepping through and slamming it behind her. '_Yamcha, you're such an idiot.' _Her feet pounded every step on the way down. _'I've already decided I don't want anyone like that in my life, so why won't you just piss off? That was beyond embarrassing back there. Even if I do admit he had a great body… Ugh, and what's with trusting him so fast? You really are a terrible detective, Videl. Maybe you should go talk to the chief tomorrow and say you want to go back to doing normal police work.' _Videl's thoughts were running a million miles an hour and she could only rationalize that she was beyond ready for some well-deserved rest.

"I'm sorry for what he said back there, but I swear to you I had no idea what his plan was. I was speaking to you as a witness only."

Videl yelped as she almost collided with her witness from earlier. "G-Gohan?"

"Yeah?" Gohan stood before her, leaned casually against the wall with his arms crossed.

She took a few seconds to compose herself. "How in Kami's name did you get down here so quick?"

He tilted his head curiously. "Why, through the door and then down the stairs of course."

Videl wondered in her head just how much influence her father could pull in this town. She wondered for a split second if she could get away with murdering two unsuspecting guys in her life. She decided against in when she rationalized that Gohan wasn't trying to be a smart ass, he was just that naïve. "I…you… never mind. I really have to get home and get to bed, so if you'll excuse me," She put a hand up and brushed passed him, "I'm going to leave now."

"Hey, wait!" He yelped, chasing after her and then matching pace with her. "I'll walk you home."

"Gohan, I don't need anyone to walk me home. A, I'm a cop and B, I drove here."

"Well then, I'll at least walk you to your car."

Videl sighed. "Fine, you are quite persistent you know that?" She turned to shoot a glare at him but noticed he suddenly wasn't there. "G-Gohan?" She whipped around and noticed him a few feet behind her, looking off to the distance with his eyes narrowed. She walked back to meet him, "You know, if you're going to walk me to the car, we still have about another block to go."

Gohan said nothing in response but kept staring off to the distance. He suddenly seemed to be so preoccupied with whatever he was focused on that the rest of the world was gone to him.

"Hello, Earth-to-Gohan." She waved a hand in front of his face. "You alright?"

"Oh, right. Sorry Miss Videl." He blinked a couple times, his eyes losing the deer-in-headlights look.

"What was wrong just now? You total spaced out."

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry Videl. I just could have swore I heard something."

"Heard what? I didn't hear anything."

His smile widened, "Must have been nothing. Don't worry about it. Anyways, something just came up. I just remembered I have to be somewhere right now. You'll be alright won't you?"

"Oh… uh yeah." Videl replied. "I am a police officer you know."

"Great. I'll see you around! Oh, and Videl?"

"Yeah?"

"It was a pleasure meeting you." He smiled before turning and heading back in the direction of Yamcha's apartment.

"Oh yeah, you too. Goodnight, Gohan."

* * *

When Gohan was sure she had safely made it to her car and was outside of hearing range he quickly made his way to the side of the building. He looked up until he noticed the curtains distinguishing Yamcha's apartment from the rest. Gohan easily leapt the six stories and perched himself on the balcony of Yamcha's apartment. He was relieved to see the door was unlocked and slid it open.

Yamcha who had begun to doze off on the couch yelped and shot him a glare. "Hello Gohan, there is a front door for a reason!"

"Sorry Yamcha." Gohan bowed respectfully and then quickly straightened up. "I'm in a bit of a hurry though." He kicked off his slippers and began putting on some running shoes.

"Why? Did something happen with Videl?"

"No… I just sensed something, a very powerful ki. I think it might be what's causing all the destruction in Satan City lately. I haven't been able to sense it until now… I think it wants me to find it."

Yamcha stood up quickly from the couch. "Are you serious? Well then let's go. Are you sure Videl didn't sense anything was up? I don't want her putting herself in danger."

"No, I personally made sure she made it to her car safely before coming back up."

"Got it." Yamcha said, slipping on his own shoes. "What will you do if we encounter said powerful ki?"

Gohan looked back at Yamcha, his eyes glowing teal. "I will make them pay."

* * *

Woohoo! Gohan and Videl FINALLY met (Formally!) and she didn't want to hurt him. I apologize for the short chapters with every update. I try to hit at least 3000 words before I submit a chapter. Any longer and it might take months to update with what little time I have in my life. Once again, I wanted to thank everyone for the follows, favorites and reviews. You guys are simply the best. Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6 - Defeat

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its characters. This includes still Gohan, unfortunately…**

**Special thanks to TheLoyalMutation** for proofreading this chapter. Thanks to him you can actually read this chapter and have it make decent sense.

Also, a special thanks to everyone who supports my story. I am a very busy person so sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to keep writing. Every follow, favorite and review truly means the world to me. That being said, please enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 6: Defeat**

Gohan couldn't help but feel uneasy. Although the warm summer night was filled with the sound of crickets, it was still eerily quiet. The normal sounds of the city were absent and the full moon shone brightly and lit up world below it.

Gohan slowly lowered himself to the ground, touching the earth with the tips of his toes with practiced ease. Yamcha, however, was a different story. His descent was less than graceful and loudly crashed into the ground. Gohan resisted the urge to rudely shush him and instead settled with playful banter to ease the tension of the situation.

"You're as graceful as ever."

"Shut it Saiyan. Most people have lives outside of practicing Ki control." He narrowed his eyes. "It's been quite awhile since I've flown. I'm a little bit rusty."

Gohan bit back a laugh. "Yeah… only a little bit."

Yamcha held back an angry retort in response to his friend's sarcasm. "So why are we here, wonder boy?" Yamcha stood up and dusted himself off.

"I told you, I sensed something. Has it really been that long since you've practiced Ki control and sensing?"

Yamcha scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I've been a bit busy."

Gohan smiled and shook his head. "Father would be giving you such a hard time right now. He dedicated his whole life to training and bettering himself." He then frowned, "come to think of it, he probably would be pretty disappointed in me with how much I've slacked off in the last 13 years or so. But, that's beside the point. You really can't sense it at all? Rusty or not… it's simply too powerful to ignore. It's like nothing I've ever felt before."

Yamcha frowned as well. "I don't know… It's strange. I may be rusty but I can sense your energy just fine. Are you sure you don't have a fever or something?"

Gohan lowered his head. _'If that's true… then whoever this creature or person is just wants me to find him. I can't let Yamcha come with me.'_ Gohan sighed, "Yamcha, I think you should go back to your apartment."

"What? No way! I'm not letting you go by yourself! It could be dangerous! I may be rusty but I'm not going to get in your way! Besides, I just flew all the way over here!" Yamcha yelled.

Gohan raised a hand to quiet his friend. "Yamcha, you and I both know I surpassed you a long time ago. This task must be handled by me alone." He then smiled, "Don't worry about me. I will see you later tonight. Besides, you need to get some rest for work tomorrow."

Yamcha was about to argue but held his tongue at the last second. He knew Gohan was right. There was a chance he would only get in the way if things got serious. "Well, alright… but only because I have faith you'll be back soon. You are the guy that defeated Cell after all." He gave his Saiyan friend a thumbs up and then waved. "See you later Gohan."

Gohan nodded. "Yes, I will see you soon." After he was sure his friend was far enough away, he continued on by foot. He arrived to the origin of the Ki just moments later. The location was an abandoned street basketball court. Graffiti littered the court and the lamps lighting the area were on their last legs, burning very dimly. Gohan was certain this was where the source of the Ki had been but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. His eyes studied the court and the area around but nothing stood out. Finally, after searching for some time and coming up empty-handed he decided to leave.

_Whoosh_

The noise behind him caught the demi-Saiyan off guard and he spun around… but once again, saw nothing. He swallowed loudly, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. His senses were going crazy, screaming danger.

"_Huhuhuhuhu."_

A strange, eerie laughter filled Gohan's head. It was like the voice was laughing from inside his head making it impossible for Gohan to make out the source.

"_We've been watching you for some time… Son Gohan."_ The voice howled.

"Watching me? Who are you?" The young Saiyan growled, his eyes narrowing as he frantically searched.

"_We've been watching you since your victory over Cell."_ The being completely ignored Gohan's questions. _"It is almost time for my master to make his appearance. You will learn everything soon enough."_

Finally, Gohan located the source, a shadowed humanoid figure sitting atop the street lamp, with no distinct features except for a pair of bright, glowing red eyes.

"W-what are you?"

"_I will admit. You look a lot weaker than I expected. I'm not sure why my master has such an obsession with you."_

"Weak?" Gohan scoffed at that, his eyes suddenly glowing teal. "You obviously don't know what I'm capable of."

"_Then show me."_

Before Gohan could register what happened the shadowed figure disappeared from its perch and slammed a fist into the young half-Saiyan's chest, knocking the air out of him briefly. He stumbled backwards coughing violently. Once he regained his footing and breath, Gohan decided not to waste anymore time, His body erupted in a golden aura as he transformed into the first level of Super Saiyan. His senses heightened sharply. "How did you do that?" Gohan growled into the darkness. "Your power level spiked radically for a split second while you made that attack."

"_Huhuhuhuhu."_

"What's so funny?" Gohan looked around, once again not being able to locate the source of the eerie laugh.

"_You're so weak. Much weaker than when you fought Cell. I laugh at the irony that for all those years you were put on a pedestal for being the source of unspeakable power."_

Gohan locked eyes with his target and charged. He swung a fist at the shadowed figure but was surprised when no contact was made with his intended target. Instead his fist flew through the empty air, the air popping from the sheer speed of the attack. The shadowed figure reappeared, bringing a pair of fists down onto the Super Saiyan's head, the force making Gohan slam into the pavement below. His body collided with the ground hard enough to form a crater. The air rushed out of his lungs and he coughed up blood. His vision swam groggily for a few moments as he fought to stay conscious. _'H-how? Who is this guy? What is this guy? How am I being beaten so easily as a Super Saiyan?'_

The dark being landed softly next go Gohan's head. _"I must say, I am rather disappointed in how easy this is. My master was wrong about you. You're weak. You're a waste of our time."_ He put a finger up to his chin thoughtfully_. "I could easily kill you now but what would be the fun in that?"_ He suddenly smiled, pointy white fangs appearing to glow because of the strong contrast against his dark body. _"Our plan won't come to fruition for another few months. I will give you one month before I come back and kill you and all of your loved ones. Find your power or else it will be the end of everything you hold dear."_

Gohan was about to reply but was interrupted.

"_Now sleep Son Gohan."_

The figure raised a foot and slammed it painfully in the half-Saiyan's head. Gohan's transformation broke and his vision faded to black.

* * *

"Dad, we need to talk." Videl sat at her desk, phone in one hand pressed to her ear, and her car keys in the other, swinging them mindlessly.

"_What is it sweet pea? It's been awhile since I've heard from you."_ Hercule's voice said from the other side of the phone line.

"Recently I got promoted to detective at work."

Hercule's mock surprise was almost convincing to Videl but she knew better. _"That's great honey! I wouldn't expect anything less from the daughter of the world savior."_ She rolled her eyes at how much her father was still full of himself after all these years.

"Shut it dad. I know I didn't earn this promotion. You had something to do with it." She slammed her fist down on her desk causing some of her coworkers to jump and turn her direction. "I told you to stay out of my business. I just want a normal life without your constant influence."

"_Videl sweetie, I don't know what you're talking about. You earned that promotion all on your own."_

Videl scoffed. "Yeah, right. I'm not as blind as you may think. There were plenty of more qualified people for this position."

"_You're doubting yourself. You're doing a great job!"_

"Well then, if you truly had nothing to do with the whole 'detective' thing than you won't mind if I go tell the chief I want to go back to what I was doing before. I don't need the extra money and it seems like the only honorable thing to do."

"_Sweetie, let's not make any rash deci-"_ Videl hung up the phone, not wanting to hear any more of her father's lies. She set her phone down and it almost immediately began vibrating as her father tried to call her back. She shot a glare at all her coworkers who had been mindlessly staring at her the passed couple minutes. "What are you looking at?" Videl growled, causing the crowd that had gathered to break and return to their jobs. She stood up and roughly pushed her chair in. It took everything in her to keep from stomping as she walked to the chief's door. Her father's actions had her seething.

_Knock knock knock_

A throat cleared from the other side of the door. "Come in!"

Videl eased the door open.

"Ah Videl. Take a seat! I'm eager to hear how your first day as a detective went." The chief smiled at her and beckoned to an open seat.

Videl nodded and closed the door. "Well actually, I would like to talk to you about that."

"What's on your mind?" He folded his hands and leaned towards her listening intently.

"What brought on the promotion yesterday? It seemed so sudden and out of the blue and honestly, I don't feel like I'm qualified."

The chief frowned. "I told you Videl, you're doing a great job. You deserved that promotion."

"But I know there were much better candidates for the detective position." The chief went to say something but Videl raised a hand to shush him. "I need you to be honest with me, you're the police chief so I expect you to be truthful." She sighed. "Did my father have anything to do with the promotion?"

The chief opened his mouth to speak and then closed it, seemingly deep in though. Finally he said, "Videl, I can't lie to you. It's very possible. I did find it a bit strange that the mayor called and insisted you be promoted immediately."

Videl nodded. "I see, thank you for being honest. Then I would like to respectfully request that I be given my old job back."

"But Videl! You've only been a detective for a little over twenty-four hours."

"I know. But I'm just not experience enough for that yet." Videl reached for the detective badge she was wearing and set it down on his desk. "I hope you understand."

He nodded slowly, "Yes, I suppose I understand." He reached for the badge and put it back in his desk. "I do have a task for you to take care off actually."

"What's that?"

"Find your partner Yamcha. He never showed up to work this morning."

* * *

Yamcha had had trouble sleeping the night before. His thoughts were filled of his friend and his safety. He kept trying to reassure himself that Gohan was fine and could take care of himself, but when the Saiyan had failed to return before sunrise he had begun to worry. _'I know he's probably fine but it wouldn't hurt to at least go take a look and try to find him.'_

Yamcha retrieved his keys and headed downstairs. There was still some time before he needed to be at work so he figured it wouldn't hurt to check on his friend. Yamcha headed towards his squad car, deciding to drive instead of fly. Flying would be too risky now that the sun was out. He didn't want to risk having anyone see him. Trying to explain the whole flying thing to someone sounded like a pain in the ass he didn't want to have to deal with.

He navigated the streets, trying not to drive too quickly and also trying to remember where exactly he last seen his friend. It was much harder from this perspective to try and remember just which buildings were familiar. Finally, after some time he arrived at the spot he was certain they had parted ways he parked the car and got out. _'Well… now what, Yamcha? He's not here.'_ Not really sure what else to do he decided to search the area around. Yamcha began heading in the direction he had seen Gohan walking towards, eventually coming to an old, abandoned basketball court. Almost immediately he noticed the crater towards the center of the court_. 'Gohan…!'_ He rushed towards the middle of the crater… and discovered Gohan's barely alive and very bloody form.

"Gohan… buddy! Wake up!" He shook his friend frantically and received no response. Panicked he put a couple fingers to the young half-saiyan's neck. He was relieved to still feel a pulse but it seemed to be growing weaker by the second. "Don't worry Gohan, I'll get you to a hospital. I'll get you some help!" Carefully he scooped his friend out of the crater and threw Gohan on his back. The heavily muscled half-saiyan was difficult to pick up and Yamcha once again regretted falling behind on his workouts. He dragged him towards his car and gently set him in the passenger seat. After making sure Gohan was safely secured in his seat, he slammed the door and ran around to driver's side, throwing the door open and climbing in. He shoved his keys roughly in the ignition and the tires squealed at he hurriedly left the scene. Yamcha reached up to flip on his lights and sirens. He needed to get to the hospital quick or he might lose his friend.

'_Shit… Gohan. Who is strong enough to do this to you? You're supposed to be the strongest guy in the world… you're supposed to be Earth's protector.'_ His thoughts were running a million miles an hour as he weaved in and out of traffic. '_We're doomed if there's someone strong enough to reduce you to this.' _He finally arrived at the hospital and pulled into the Emergency Room entrance. Wasting no time he grabbed Gohan and dragged him into the crowded waiting room.

"Help! My friend needs help!"

The receptionist at the front desk sighed irritated, as she scribbled down some notes. "You'll have to wait like everyone else. Please sign-in."

"Look here lady, either he gets some help now or he'll die! We can't waste anytime."

Finally the receptionist looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of Gohan. "Oh my…. Yes of course!" She quickly grabbed her phone and dialed a number. Yamcha was zoned out and worried about his friend so he didn't catch what she said but when she hung up the phone, almost immediately some nurses arrived with a stretcher.

"Sir, can you tell us what happened?"

"I'm not sure… I found him like that…" His mouth was dry, and his thoughts were jumbled. Yamcha helped them lift his friend and he watched as they wheeled Gohan away. He walked over to one of the waiting room chairs and slumped over, burying his head in his hands. _'There… was so much blood. Oh my gosh, Gohan…'_ He faintly registered that his phone was vibrating.

* * *

Videl paced outside of Yamcha's apartment. She was beginning to get worried, it wasn't like him to miss work, much less not even make a phone call to explain his absence. She sighed and reached into her pocket, grabbing her phone and calling him again. The phone rang multiple times and then went to voicemail.

She swallowed hard. _'Oh my gosh, what if Gohan…' _She clenched her fists. _'What if I was wrong to trust Gohan? What if he's done something to Yamcha?' _She walked over to the window of the apartment, putting a hand up to block the glare. She peered into the apartment to see if she could see any sign of foul play but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She frowned and began to head downstairs. 'Maybe he and Gohan just had a bit too much to drink last night and are really hung over?' She reached the parking lot and looked around for her partner's car. She became more concerned when it was nowhere to be seen.

'Where do I even start to look though?' Videl furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled. She snapped her fingers. 'I know! Yamcha's squad car should have a GPS on it. All I need to do is have someone at the station GPS track it.' She was about to dial the station when her phone began to ring. Relieved was an understatement when she realized the person calling was just the missing person she was looking for.

"Yamcha! Where are you?! Are you okay?" She all but yelled in the receiver.

"_I-I'm fine. Videl, I'm at the hospital."_

"What?! What happened? Did Gohan do something to you…I knew I shouldn't have trusted him… now you're…" She was mumbling nervously.

"_Videl… I'm fine. It's Gohan… he's in serious condition… I'm not sure he's going to make it…"_

"Yamcha? What are you talking about? What happened?"

"_Meet me at the hospital. We'll talk when you get here."_

"Oh… okay." Videl nodded into the phone. "I'll see you soon… stay strong Yamcha."

She hung up the phone, suddenly feeling numb. What could have happened to Gohan? Maybe someone really did want to hurt him… maybe someone came back to finish the job after failing to kill him by blowing up Capsule Corporation. She stuck her phone back in her pocket and headed to her car. The drive to the hospital was a blur and when she arrived she immediately went in to meet her partner. She found him slumped over in a chair, an exhausted look on his face. She sat down next to him and slowly rubbed his back.

"Everything will be okay…" She soothed.

"I shouldn't have left him… this is all my fault…" He muttered.

Videl wanted to ask what had happened but didn't want to stress her already anxious friend. Finally after what seemed like hours a doctor walked out into the lobby and beckoned them over.

"Well, what is it doctor? Is Gohan going to be okay?"

"Your friend is in very serious condition. You should be glad you found him when you did. He had a punctured lung, broken ribs, and a concussion to name a few of his injuries. What exactly happened? Did a train hit him? Honestly, he's lucky to be alive."

Yamcha frowned. "I'm… not sure what happened. I just found him like that."

The doctor sighed. "We're going to have to put him in a drug-induced coma. He's going to need time to heal. I'm not sure how long we'll need to leave him like that Listen officer, if you know what happened to him please let me know. It might help us when deciding how to treat him."

"I really don't know anything… As soon as I find out more I promise to let you know."

The doctor nodded and walked away.

Yamcha turned to his partner. "Videl, there's something I have to do. I'm going to be gone for awhile so I need you to look after Gohan."

"Wait…. What?" Videl yelped. "You can't just leave!"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Videl please. I can't give you the specifics yet but I really need you to do this favor for me. This is really hard for me to do. I wouldn't leave Gohan unless I absolutely had to."

"Yamcha… Seriously, what's gotten in to you? Are you insane?"

"Please. Please just trust me." He repeated his plea again.

Videl swallowed and nodded slowly. "Okay… I trust you. Please just hurry back. I'll watch after Gohan for you." A small half smile formed on her lips despite the situation. "But when you get back I demand to know what's going on. I want to know everything you know about what happened. And I want to know just where the hell you went and why it was so important." She jabbed a finger into his chest with each question for emphasis. "Are we clear?"

He nodded and walked towards the exit of the Emergency Room waiting room. "I promise. Thank you Videl. Tell the chief I'm sorry. I will try to be back as soon as I can. If he needs to fire me, I understand but this is important."

"Wait! Just how long are you planning to be gone?" She yelled but he was already gone. Videl sighed. What the hell had she gotten herself into? Why was she always so trusting? It was then she looked up and noticed that for the second time in one day that she had an audience. Patients in the waiting room stared at her, some blankly, others amused. She sighed again and stomped towards the exit. It was time to leave, she could check on Gohan later.

* * *

Yep… that's right. Our favorite demi-Saiyan was defeated and the fight wasn't even close. Fear not, that is not the end of Gohan; he's not so weak to die after a fight like that. This story needs an antagonist and it would be boring if Gohan kicked the crap out of him right of the bat. Any ideas on where Yamcha went? And just why the heck is our female heroine so trusting of spiky-haired idiots?

Anyways, I wanted to thank the readers. This was the most reviews I've ever received in a single chapter and it definitely feels good. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter… besides that you absolutely hated it because Gohan got his butt kicked. Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7 - The Long Road

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its characters. This includes Gohan, unfortunately…**

No proofreader for this chapter. Sorry ahead of time for all the mistakes. :)

A special thanks to everyone who supports my story. I am a very busy person so sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to keep writing. Every follow, favorite and review truly means the world to me. That being said, please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 7: The Long Road

Three days. Three days since Gohan's tattered and beaten form had been discovered and admitted into the hospital and three days since Yamcha had left suddenly and unexpectedly. And for three days, Videl visited Gohan in the hospital daily to check on his progress or lack thereof.

"Damn it!" Videl chucked a glass into the wall of her kitchen causing it to shatter and fall to the floor and water to drip onto the wallpaper. _'I trusted Yamcha. Where the hell is he?'_ The chief had been understanding initially when Videl had informed him of the fate Yamcha's friend had suffered, but after Yamcha failed to as much as call the chief after so long he was beginning to lose his patience. If Yamcha failed to return to work by Monday, he wouldn't have a job to return to, the chief made himself very clear to Videl.

Except Videl had no way to contact Yamcha. After he had left her there in the waiting room, she had tried to follow him out to the parking lot. When she walked out she discovered his squad car, his keys, wallet and cell phone just lying on the seat as if he had placed them in there just moments before leaving. Which means that wherever he went he probably took his jet helicopter. Videl hadn't known Yamcha to own a jet helicopter but if he had a capsule he could easily bring forth a vehicle in a moment's notice.

She sighed, tiptoeing towards her closet to retrieve a broom and dustpan. She still didn't understand where he would need to go in such a critical time. And why would he leave his phone, wallet and keys behind? It made absolutely no sense. It was as if the place he was headed to he did not want anyone to discover. Was she wrong to trust him? Had he had something to do with what happened to Gohan? Is that why he wanted to disappear? She shook her head quickly. _'No. He would never do something like that. Especially to someone he cares about.'_ She swallowed, in all honesty though, Gohan looked like absolute shit. Whatever had happened to him meant that he had a long road to recovery that would take months, perhaps even years to recover from. Some of those injuries he might never recover from. And the doctor had even brought up the possibility of permanent brain damage. Videl frowned, suddenly another rush of pity for Gohan. The guy was beyond smart and athletic, this would certainly change his life drastically.

It had become clear that whoever destroyed Capsule Corporation Satan City had intended to take Gohan down with it. When they had failed, they came back to finish the job. She wasn't sure what Gohan had done to deserve such terrible treatment, but she was willing to spend whatever time it took to investigate the matter. Videl slowly swept the pieces of the glass into the dustpan and dumped the contents into the trashcan when she was finished. It was finally her day off, and she intended to spend it searching for Gohan's attacker. She walked over to the coffee machine and turned it on. She could already tell today was going to be stressful and she was going to need the obnoxious amounts of caffeine to help her through it.

* * *

Gohan slowly opened his eyes, squinting and blinking rapidly because of the bright sunlight. Once his eyes had adjusted he sat up carefully and looked around. Healthy green grass covered the rolling hills as far as the eye could see. The sky was beautiful and blue and the sun shone warmly down on the young half-Saiyan's skin. Gohan wasn't sure where he was but the place was gorgeous and inviting. He stood up, dusting his pants off.

"What are you doing here?"

A voice. Gohan knew the voice well but was weary to trust that it could actually be him. He slowly turned, not expecting to lock eyes with someone who died over thirteen years ago.

"D-d-dad?" Gohan stuttered, shocked beyond coherent speaking. "You're alive… how is that possible?"

The older Saiyan cocked his head to the side curiously. "I am?" His eyes floated upward until they landed on his halo, which was still very much above his head. "Uh… nope." He shrugged. "Still dead as can be."

"Then how can you be here?"

Goku frowned and crossed his arms. "No, the real question is how are _you_ here? You aren't on Earth, Gohan."

It was Gohan's turn to be shocked and confused. His own eyes glanced up to where a halo had begun to form, but was very dim and almost unnoticeable. "So… I'm dead?" Gohan suddenly felt his legs grow very weak and fell to his knees.

"Not quite." The older Saiyan walked over to his son, placing a comforting hand on his back. "But… I think you're close. What exactly happened? Did you catch some sort of disease?"

"No… I was attacked by someone… someone very strong. I didn't stand a chance, even as a Super Saiyan."

"How can that be? No one can be stronger than Cell or Frieza. And especially no one is stronger than you. It's just not possible. Gohan, you're the strongest being in the universe, I'm sure of it."

"No, I am not." Gohan slammed a fist into the down, making the ground crack a bit from the impact. "This being made quick work of me. He took me out in three very powerful blows. The Earth is done for, as am I."

Goku narrowed his eyes and removed his hand from Gohan's back. He sighed almost angrily. "You still haven't changed have you? You're still as much as a cry baby as you were thirteen years ago. Gosh Gohan, I thought by now you would have grown up. But you're still babbling like some lost, pathetic child."

Gohan's eyes widened at his father's harsh words.

"I thought I taught you to never give up, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem."

"Dad I…"

"You do seem weak. Have you not kept up with your training since I passed? When I died, I passed the torch onto you. You were supposed to protect Earth in my absence, I trusted you."

"Dad… times were peaceful. I wanted to live a normal life. I wanted to go to school, make friends, and forget about the past. What happened to you was because of me. I am not worthy to follow in your footsteps. Besides, I really haven't had the time to keep up with the strict training regime required to keep myself in peak, fighting shape."

"Was it because you didn't have time? Or was it really because you were scared, doubtful, hopeless and overcome with guilt?" Goku crossed his arms. "Gohan, I told you what happened wasn't your fault. If you must be angry at someone, be angry at Cell." He rubbed his temples frustrated. "Gohan, it's been 13 years… 13 years! I thought you would have been over it by now."

"How? How do you expect me to just 'get over it'? Everyday I am constantly reminded by everyone of how much they miss you. My younger brother grew up without a father because of me. No matter what you say… I'm the reason you died. What good is power if I can't even protect my own father? That's why I didn't train. I didn't see the point. My whole life up until the point of Cell… I watched people I care about die. I watched you die. I endured more than any kid my age should have!"

Goku closed his eyes, gritting his teeth roughly before punching his son across the face. Gohan fell flat on his back, his eyes widening in shock at the sudden contact.

"Are you done with the self-pitying? I'm sorry Gohan… you have a responsibility to me and to Earth. I know this isn't the path you chose for yourself, but you were given great power for a reason. Besides, it isn't your time to come here yet." He shook his head and turned to walk away. "The power to defeat your new enemy is inside, you just have to learn to unleash it."

Gohan reached up to rub the spot on his face his father had struck. "How can I do that?"

Goku glanced over his shoulder at his shaking son. "That is for you to discover. As a father I can only guide you, it is up to you to ultimately discover the answer." The image of his father began to slowly fade away. "Goodbye Gohan."

"W-wait…. DAD!" Gohan stood up and ran to where he was sure he'd seen his father, but the image was gone. The tears he had been holding in began to stream down his face. The world around him began to fade into darkness.

* * *

Videl climbed the three flights of stairs to Yamcha's apartment eagerly. She felt kind of stupid for not thinking of it before, but Gohan's family and friends had to be looking for him. It had been at least three days since anyone had heard from him. She reached the door and caught herself instinctively trying to knock, and then lowered her hand when she realized it wouldn't do any good. No one was home. Yamcha wasn't home, and Gohan certainly wouldn't be back there for a while. She reached into her purse and retrieved her missing partner's keys, quickly sticking it in the lock and unlocking the door. The door swung open and Videl looked around. The apartment appeared almost exactly like she left it over half a week ago. She tiptoed quietly towards the guest bedroom and opened the door. To Videl's excitement she noticed Gohan's phone sitting on the night stand of the bed, still plugged in. She picked it up and turned it on. '32 missed calls… and 18 text messages…' She scrolled through the messages. At first, the messages seemed to be normal conversation between friends and family but as time progressed they became more and more concerned with their friend's well being, which Videl found to be very understandable. She hadn't wanted to pry so she just skimmed through the messages, deciding who she wanted to call first. She became quite confused with some of the messages and how little sense they made.

'R U okay Gohan? I can't feel ur energy.' The message was from Goten.

'Listen kid, you better not be taking on whatever being that attacked Capsule Corporation on your own. We don't know enough about our enemy so it would be risky to attack without a plan.' The message was from Bulma Briefs.

'Are you okay? Seriously you're starting to scare us. I know you're an adult who can take care of himself but Vegeta said he couldn't feel your energy. What would I tell your mother if something were to happen to you because of your stubbornness? Please Gohan text back.' Another text message from the blue-haired heiress.

Videl swallowed nervously. It sounded like Gohan and his group of friends and family knew a lot more about the incident than they had initially revealed. Why would Gohan try to take someone on by himself? Wasn't that the police force's job? What kind of vigilante justice was he trying to pull? She was about to irritably scroll through the contacts on the list to decide who to call first but she was stumped. Suddenly, the phone began to vibrate and ring in her hand. She looked at the phone and saw Bulma Briefs was calling. She hit the 'Talk' button and answered the call. Before she could say anything the woman on the other side began to freak out.

_"Gohan! Dammit! I had to hack into your phone to make sure that as soon as you picked it up I would know. Where have you been? And why didn't you take your phone? This isn't funny you know! Your mom has been driving everyone up a wall with all of her worrying. If you need to get away for a few days that's fine, but you need to tell someone first!"_

Videl could tell the rambling was not going to stop anytime soon.

_"Did you forget your phone at Yamcha's apartment for a few days? Because that's where the GPS on your phone said your phone as at. Where did you go that you didn't think to take your phone? And what about poor Goten. The poor kid—"_

"It's not Gohan!" Videl finally yelled.

There was a long pause on the other line. _"Well then…. Who is this? And why the hell do you have Gohan's phone?"_

"It's Officer Videl Satan, and it's a long story. But basically, Gohan is in the hospital. I was trying to think of the best way to get in contact with his friends and family so I went and retrieved his phone from Yamcha's apartment."

There was another long pause. _"Gohan... is in the hospital? That's impossible. Gohan couldn't be in the hospital…"_ Her voice trailed off.

"It's the truth. I'm not exactly sure what happened to him but he isn't in too great of shape. I'm sorry I didn't reach you sooner but I think it would be best for you and his family to go visit him and oversee his care."

_"Which hospital? We'll leave now."_

"Satan City West Hospital. Gohan is in the ICU."

_"The ICU?! Videl… is he going to be okay?"_

"I'm not sure… he's been in a drug-induced coma for three days. His injuries were very extensive.

_"And you're not sure at all of what happened?"_

"Not at all. Yamcha was the one that found him and even he has no clue what happened to Gohan."

_"Well, can you at least tell me where he was found?"_

Videl frowned, even she wasn't sure of the specifics. She was disappointed she hadn't thought to ask Yamcha while he had still been around. "I don't even know that, I'm sorry."

_"Well, can I speak to Yamcha?"_

Videls frown deepened. "Uhm… about that. Yamcha left shortly after the incident and no one has seen him since."

Bulma swore under her breath and then sighed._ "Alright, well I'm sure we'll find out more as Gohan recovers. We're headed to the hospital now."_

"Alright, sounds good. I will see you there." Videl hung up Gohan's phone and stuck it back in her purse. She was about to leave the apartment and lock up when she heard a phone ring again, this time she noticed it was her own cell phone. She didn't recognize the number but she picked it up anyways.

"Officer Videl Satan." She said, her voice sounding very official.

_"Miss Videl, this is Dr. Toriyama."_

"Oh…hey." She said surprised. Then she remembered she was listed as his emergency contact for the time being. "What's up?" Her stomach suddenly twisted up, what if Gohan wasn't okay? Yamcha would be…

_"It's Son Gohan, we're waking him up now."_

Relief washed over her and she hung up the phone. "Great! Thank you for letting me know! I'll be there soon!" She briefly debated whether or not she should even go back to the hospital, now that Bulma and his family were headed there she almost didn't see a reason for her to go back. She hardly knew the guy and now was a good time for him to be with the people he was close to. She had been injured pretty badly before during various martial arts tournament, and during those times of being completely dependent on others she had felt very vulnerable. She imagined Gohan would feel the same. _'No. Yamcha asked me to keep an eye on him. I will at least swing by to check in on him and then I will leave the rest of his care up to his family. Besides, I need an explanation on what the hell happened and what all these messages mean. Was he really trying to seek justice on his own?'_ With her mind made up she began to head back to her car.

* * *

_'Dammit dammit dammit.'_ Bulma shakily began searching for the capsule for her jet coptor. Vegeta was still out and about searching for their attacker. If Gohan had been injured this badly, she knew her grumpy husband was in danger. She also dreaded telling poor Goten and Chichi about Gohan's fate. Bulma gulped, suddenly very scared of how her female friend would react. Chichi was the definition of a helicopter parent when it came to Gohan. Even at twenty-four years old, with a successful career, two PhDs (and working on a third), and arguably being the strongest man in the universe, Gohan was still her baby. Gohan, being as kind-hearted as his father had been, tolerated her behavior, but you could tell even he was growing quite tiresome of the way she treated him. Chichi's treatment of Gohan was probably part of the reason he has been so insistent to move away from her in the first place.

"Goten! Trunks! Come here now!" Bulma yelled up the stairs after she had finally located the elusive capsule.

"Just a second mom!" Trunks shouted back.

"On a boss fight!" Goten yelled.

Bulma grit her teeth at the typical young boys' behavior. She drew in a deep breath, "GOTEN! TRUNKS! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT! I need to talk to you about Gohan!"

Perhaps it was her angry motherly tone or perhaps it was the fact she had some information about Gohan, but the young half-saiyans were by her side in seconds, using their inhuman speed to reach her quickly.

"Yes mom?"

"Is my brother okay?"

The twelve and thirteen year old boys had eagerly asked their questions in unison.

Bulma frowned. "Not exactly. Now I need you both to listen to what I have to say. Gohan is in the hospital; he was attacked… probably by whatever destroyed Capsule Corporation West City."

"By who?!" Goten shouted.

"Yeah! We'll teach whoever hurt Gohan a lesson!" Trunks growled, cracking his knuckles.

Bulma raised a hand to quiet the hyperactive teenagers. "I told you two to listen! Gohan is in serious condition, I haven't seen how bad he is myself so I couldn't give you specific details. You two will not be going after whoever hurt Gohan. The two of you can't even become Super Saiyans yet*, you would be knocked around like a couple of rag dolls. Goten, you will come with me to the hospital, I know you're probably worried now and want to see him."

"What about me? I want to check on Gohan too…"

"Trunks, I need you to do something very important for me and possibly dangerous."

"What is it?" Trunks leaned forward anxiously.

"I need you to tell Chichi about what has happened." Bulma felt bad internally for dumping the task on her poor son, but she needed someone who could quickly fly out there to share the news of Gohan's fate. There were no phone lines out in the mountains and even if there were, Chichi had no interest in such things.

The color drained from the young half-saiyans face. "Me?! Why do I have to tell her?!"

"Because I told you so! And because you can get there fairly quickly. After you find Chichi I need you to find your father and also inform him of Gohan's fate. You can do that fancy thing where you can feel his energy so I'm counting on you to bring him home. Got it?"

The young purple-haired boy swallowed and nodded. "Fine. I'll do it. But then I'm coming to the hospital to check on Gohan."

"That's fine." Bulma wondered if Gohan would even be in the hospital by the time Trunks arrived. If Yamcha had left he had undoubtedly gone to retrieve some Senzu beans, a magical item that when consumed would completely restore the user's energy and heal all wounds. She only wished Yamcha had thought to contact her before leaving. Vegeta could travel much more quickly than the out-of-practice human. Yamcha had only delayed Gohan's recovery with his actions. She just hoped by the time he returned it wouldn't be too late. "Now go." She kissed her teenage son on the cheek and patted him on the back.

"Okay mom, I'll meet you at the hospital, and I'll bring dad!" The young half-saiyan jogged and waved at the same time. He threw the front door of their home open. Bulma could hear the sound of his energy exploding out of his body as he took flight.

"Alright, so would you like me to carry you? I want to check on my brother quickly!"

Bulma shook her head. "No, I'm not young like I used to be when I went on adventures with your brother and father. We're taking the jet helicopter."

Goten frowned. "The jet helicopter? But that will take us like…" His eyes rolled up towards the ceiling deep in thought before he finally said "Three hours to get to Satan City."

"I'm aware. That's why we better get going now."

"Can't I just fly on my own and meet you there?"

Bulma shook her head again. "No Goten, I need you to stick with me. You'll go off looking for trouble if I don't keep an eye on you. Don't think I don't know you well enough to know that you'll go after whoever attacked your brother. Besides, it would be suspicious if you showed up anywhere without an adult present. Even if you're a powerful half-alien, you're still just a kid." She crossed her arms for emphasis.

Goten smirked. "Heh, you know me too well."

Bulma smiled back as she walked towards the door. "Damn right I do, you're just like your father."

* * *

Gohan felt like the world was spinning. After the world he had seen his father in faded to black, pain had started to seep into every inch of his body. The pain served as a reminder that he was still very much alive.

"Gohan… can you hear me?"

A male's voice, Gohan didn't recognize at all. "Y-yes." His voice was raspy. He still couldn't see anything; his eyes were adjusting to the light of the room.

There was a sigh of relief. "Great. That's good to hear."

"Where am I?"

"The hospital, Satan City West Hospital to be exact. I'm Dr. Toriyama. I've been watching over you the passed couple of days."

Gohan's eyes finally focused on the smiling face of an older doctor. "Where's Yamcha?"

"Yamcha…" The doctor closed his eyes, trying to recall where he had heard the name. "Oh yes, Yamcha. Isn't he the fellow that dropped you off here? I haven't seen him since. Miss Satan has been keeping an eye on you. She has been here several times a day since you were admitted."

_'Miss… Satan? Why was she checking up on ne? How much did she know about what happened?'_ The pain in Gohan's body flared up and he took a sharp breath through clenched teeth. "I'm very thirsty… can I please have some water?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes of course." Dr. Toriyama turned to a nurse and sent her to retrieve some water for his dehydrated patient. The nurse nodded in response and quickly left to retrieve the water. "You know Gohan, you are quite the remarkable patient."

"Oh?" Gohan reached a hand up to rub his throbbing head. "Funny, I don't feel too remarkable right now."

The doctor chuckled. "I meant, you're lucky to be alive. And you seem to be healing rather quickly… it's way outside the norm that's for sure. What exactly happened to you? Do you remember?"

Gohan remembered everything clearly but he wasn't about to tell the doctor anything. "No idea."

It must have been obvious he was lying, the doctor replied without missing a beat. "Oh really? Well I can tell from the scars on your body that this wasn't your first time coming this close to death."

Gohan began to grow nervous but was saved from a very awkward situation when the nurse returned, this time with Videl in tow. "Doctor Toriyama, Miss Videl is here. She would like to speak with the patient alone for official police business."

The doctor sighed and stood up. "Yes, of course." He turned to Gohan, "When you're ready to talk, I'll be listening."

Gohan gave a curt nod and turned back to Videl.

When she was sure they had left the room she sat down in the chair next to Gohan's bed. "What was that all about?"

"No idea." Gohan lied while rubbing his sore ribs. There was an awkward silence between them before Gohan finally broke it. "Thanks for watching out for me while I was asleep."

She nodded. "Yeah, don't mention it. I'm glad you're okay. Your body is in terrible shape, you have a long road of recovery ahead of you."

Gohan smiled. "I'll be fine. If there's any way to ever repay you for your kindness, please let me know."

Videl smiled as if waiting for him to say something along those lines. "Yeah, there is one thing you can do to repay me. I want you to tell me the truth about what happened to you. And don't try to lie, I've been on the police force long enough to see when someone is lying. Just what were you trying to pull? Did you really go after the person who attacked Capsule Corporation on your own?"

* * *

*Trunks and Goten have not become Super Saiyans yet in my story. I always found it a little silly that Super Saiyan was supposed to be some badass transformation that resulted from extreme emotion or need… and then Goten gets it by sparring with Chichi? Rrrrright.

I'm back! Sorry for the long update time. I've been busy… as usual. Anyways, I saw in quite a few reviews that there is some confusion about my story and the timeline in this AU. I had planned on writing an explanation of the events that led up to my story but I wanted it to be explained as part of a natural part of the story. I see in hindsight, that wasn't the best plan. Because now everyone doesn't know what the hell is going on. Uhm… whoops? Well I definitely learned a lot while writing my first fanfiction, that's for sure. Would it be helpful for me to write out a timeline or would you all like to see an explanation written into the story as a more natural way of explaining it? I'm worried about how the readers will react because this universe actually differs quite a bit from the actual canon storyline. In fact, the whole reason the Saiyans are on Earth will be quite different! Just let me know what you readers would like to see and I shall make it so. (:


	8. Chapter 8 - Freedom

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its characters. This includes Gohan, unfortunately…**

**No proofreader for this chapter. I apologize ahead of time for the mistakes. **

Also, a special thanks to everyone who supports my story. I am a very busy person so sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to keep writing. Every follow, favorite and review truly means the world to me. That being said, please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 8 – Freedom

Gohan stared back at the black-haired girl. His mouth was dry and every part of his body ached. He really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. He laid back into his bed and buried his face in his pillow.

"Can we talk later? I'm really not feeling up to this right now, understandably." He groaned.

Videl opened her mouth to yell at him and then closed it. She sighed and spoke as sweetly as possible. "I understand how you feel Son Gohan, but I'm trying to do my job. Can't you just answer a few questions? I would like to catch whoever did this to you and bring them to justice."

Gohan rubbed his temples. "What do you mean? I never said anyone did this to me."

Videl rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you expect me to believe you fell and got hurt this badly? The only thing I might possibly believe is if you fell down like four flights of stairs… wait, you didn't fall down some stairs did you?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, I didn't fall down some stairs."

"Well then what happened?" She was leaning in close now.

"I… was attacked by someone." He said finally, hoping what he supplied was enough to get her off his back.

"By who?"

"I'm not sure." That part wasn't a lie.

"Why would someone attack you?"

"I don't know. Maybe money? You know, since I am very high up in Capsule Corporation, maybe my attacker assumed I was loaded."

"I doubt it. Your wallet was amongst your belongings when you were admitted into the hospital. Nothing was taken out of there."

"Well then I don't know."

Videl put a hand down on his bed. "Gohan, what are you not telling me? I told you I can tell when someone is lying. Besides, I saw the messages on your phone—"

Gohan sat up suddenly locking eyes with her. "My phone? What did you see on my phone?" He hissed.

"That you could have possibly been going after whoever attacked Capsule Corporation. Which means, you weren't being entirely honest with me when I interviewed you before. You know more than you're letting on. Gohan, withholding information from an active investigation is against the law. I could charge you with obstruction of justice."

Gohan shook his head, lying back down. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Why won't you just leave it alone? There are plenty of other things for you to go play cop and investigate."

Videl clenched a fist angrily. "Excuse me?! I'm trying to help you out!"

"Well why don't you just mind your business?" Gohan narrowed his eyes at her. He was tired, beyond cranky, in enormous amounts of pain and still baffled by the encounter with his father. He really didn't feel like dealing with this right now.

Videl was grinding her teeth angrily. _'The nerve of this guy…'_ "You do realize I'm a police officer? This is my job. And this was no small crime, whoever did this DESTROYED a multi-million dollar facility and assaulted a civilian. This is my business."

"And you're just going to get hurt. I've heard the stories from Yamcha about how headstrong you are. You may be a cop but you certainly don't play by the rules. You do whatever it takes to take "bad guys" down. But in doing so, you put yourself in ridiculous amounts of danger. You're almost stupid. You think you can get away with acting like that because of who your father is."

That did it. Gohan certainly struck a nerve by mentioning her father. Her mouth dropped and her face turned red with anger. "You… you…."

Guilt washed over the half-Saiyan. He had gotten carried away. Keeping his anger and irritation in check was something he historically wasn't good at.

"You know nothing about me. You just assume you know me from what you've seen on television. Before you make judgments of someone you should really get to know them personally." Videl seethed.

_'Well she is right… what's wrong with me?'_ Gohan sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry I got a bit carried away there."

"A bit?!"

"Okay, maybe very carried away. I'm in a lot of pain, I'm stressed, and I just woke up from a ridiculously long nap, I'm not even sure how long it was…"

"Three days." Videl said firmly, her anger starting to fade.

"What?"

"You were asleep for three days."

'_Shit…'_ Gohan thought to himself, vaguely remembering the doctor had mentioned the same thing. 'I really have to get out of here… I have very limited time to train before my foe returns. If what father says is true, I have the power to defeat this evil, I just have to find it.' Gohan grabbed fistfuls of his hospital sheets. _'If only I had a senzu bean... maybe I can send Yamcha or Vegeta to retrieve one.'_ He looked back up at Videl eagerly. "Where's Yamcha?"

Videl frowned in response to his question. "I'm… not sure. He left when he dropped you off here. Said he had to be somewhere important."

'_Maybe he went to retrieve a senzu… meaning he should be back very soon if he left three days ago.'_ "Do my mother and Bulma know I'm here?"

"Oh yeah, Bulma said she was on her way. Speaking of which…" Videl reached into her purse and pulled out Gohan's cell phone. "Here, I believe this belongs to you." She placed the mobile device firmly in his palm.

"Thank you." Gohan said in response and eagerly flipped the phone on, scrolling through the messages.

"What were they talking about? When they said they couldn't sense your 'power level'?"

Gohan met her eyes, carefully wondering what to say in response. Maybe he should try the truth… it's not like she would believe him anyways. "Do you know what 'Ki' is?" He said after awhile.

"Ki?" She blinked a few times.

"Yes, Ki. Ki is the 'latent energy' or 'life force' every living creature has inside of them."

A light bulb went off in her head. "On yeah! I remember learning about 'ki' during one of my fighting lessons with my instructors."

He nodded. "Yes, the training to develop one's Ki is directly linked with learning martial arts. Some people can be so adept that they can actually learn another person's Ki signature and can feel it from very far away."

"You can do that?"

He nodded again. "I can."

"And so your other friends can too. That's how they knew something was wrong with you." She shook her head. "I've heard of 'Ki' and we talked about 'Ki' in our classes but nothing was ever expanded on it. My father certainly never spoke of it… how do you and your friends have such a vast knowledge on sensing it?"

"My father had an instructor that practiced ancient martial arts. He passed the knowledge of Ki manipulation and sensing onto my father, and my father passed it onto me. It would make sense that you don't know much about it, we are in the midst of a dark age of martial arts."

Videl laughed sharply. "Gohan, you do realize who you're talking to right? Hercule Satan, the world savior, is my father. He is the guy who defeated Cell. I hardly call this the dark age of martial arts."

Gohan smiled slowly. "Oh yes, of course. How could I forget?" His eyes flickered back to his phone and he began responding to some of the messages that had accumulated.

"Gohan, I don't know if I believe everything you've told me about Ki, but if you truly have mastered sensing it, I want you to teach me how to."

"I'm hardly in any condition to be teaching anyone anything." He said, his eyes not moving from his phone. "Besides, your father should be able to teach you." Gohan added almost smugly.

Videl's eyes narrowed. "My father doesn't need such magic tricks to defeat his opponents. He has no need to have knowledge of Ki sensing."

"Tsk tsk, you become quite touchy any time your father is brought up. I bet you would be interested to know that your Ki signature is much stronger than your father's."

"It… it is?"

"Yes it is, but your father doesn't need such trickery to help him in fighting so why does it matter?"

Videl growled. "Stop with the sarcasm! I want you to teach me. Once you heal, you will teach me how to sense Ki and how I can incorporate it into my fighting. You owe me that, after all. I took time out of my busy schedule to check up on you everyday." She stood up and scooped up her purse, throwing it roughly over her shoulder. "Goodbye Son Gohan. Your family and friends are on their way, I have no need to come back and check on you. Just stay out of trouble, and no more vigilante justice. The police can handle this without your help." Videl walked out of the room without turning back again.

Gohan stared at the doorway where Videl had been standing at just moments before. His mind was burning with confusion. _'What the hell was that? She believed me…?'_ Regardless of if Videl had been serious or not, he certainly didn't have time to be teaching her anything. He had less than a month now to recover and train to fight the Earth's newest threat, and if he wasn't able to discover his hidden powers again soon… well, let's just say he knew the Earth was doomed once and for all. He had a lot on his mind but there wasn't anything he could do in his present condition. As frustratingly useless as he felt right now he needed his rest. Gohan laid down in his pillow once more, trying to his best to ignore the pain in every inch of his body he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Gohan awoke to the sound of hushed whispers coming from downstairs. He stirred slightly, trying to muffle out the sounds with his pillow but to no avail. His Saiyan senses had picked a great time to be sharp. He was still young and trying to control the overwhelming sensory that had come as he had begun to develop. There were a few unfamiliar Kis downstairs, as well as Vegeta, his mother and his father's. As quietly as possible he tiptoed out of bed, being careful to not make even the slightest sound. If his mother found out he was out of his bedroom at this hour it would only mean trouble. His mother may not have been as powerful as his father, but she sure knew how to swing a frying pan. As he approached the door the whispers became clearer.

"—It's true. I saw it myself." Gohan recognized the voice as his father's.

"But… that's impossible. The child is only five." A new voice Gohan didn't recognize. He vaguely wondered whom they were speaking about.

"During the fight with Frieza there was a point where he had the upper hand. I was for sure going to die. Just when Frieza was about to finish me, that was the moment he intervened. Somehow he was able to damage Frieza, and not just slightly but critically."

Gohan suddenly realized they were talking about _him_. He swallowed nervously, just what exactly was going on?

Vegeta scoffed. "There's nothing special about the brat, he simply caught Frieza off-guard."

Gohan silently agreed. There was nothing special about the surprise attack he had sprung on the unsuspecting ice giant. He wondered why the others were pondering on it so much.

"That may be so, but still. Frieza had an unspeakable power level. I was barely able to defeat him, even after using the legendary Super Saiyan transformation. It wasn't just the fact it was a surprise attack, it was also the enormous power behind the attack. Even if it was short lived, it was incredible. Like nothing I've ever seen."

There was a silence between those discussing the issue. Finally one of the voices Gohan didn't recognize spoke. "If what you say is true, we all might be in danger. A child having that kind of power before having the chance to mature is downright dangerous. A child is more susceptible to corruption. I believe it is in our best interest to destroy the boy before it's too late."

A chill went down the young five year old's spine. Would his father really kill him? He was suddenly very, very afraid. His eyes brimmed with tears, his young mind not understanding the discussion below.

"No! Absolutely not!" Goku yelled and there was a loud smack and then the sound of wood cracking.

"That is my son you're talking about!" His mother yelled, just as angrily.

"If you have any intention of harming my son, I will destroy you. I don't care who you are. Even if Gohan isn't full Saiyan he is pure of heart."

"Y-yes of course Goku." The person speaking cleared their throat. "Just know, you are responsible for the boy. If he shows any signs of being corrupted by his powers, you will take care of it immediately." He paused before continuing. "However, I do have faith in you Goku. If you believe the boy to be pure of heart than he will be a great addition to our cause. Now, if you'll excuse us, we really should be going. Vegeta, would you mind escorting us out? I believe we'll stay at your house tonight."

"Of course. Follow me."

After a few seconds Gohan heard the front door shut and the room below grow silent. Gohan took it as his opportunity to quietly crawl back in bed so his parents wouldn't suspect he had been up for the whole conversation. He was beyond baffled, there were many things his young, naïve mind couldn't comprehend. He was terrified and it took everything in him to fight back the tears.

Suddenly, the door to his bedroom creaked open and Gohan heard footsteps towards his bed.

"Gohan… you heard everything didn't you?" It was his dad.

Gohan turned to his father; eyes brimmed with tears and nodding slowly. "Daddy… I'm sorry…"

"There is no need to apologize. Any person would have done the same thing in your situation. You probably couldn't sleep, could you? Your senses are becoming stronger. Don't worry, you'll learn to control them eventually."

"I… I'm scared." Tears flowed down Gohan's cheeks and he bit his lift softly.

"Don't ever be scared Gohan. I promise I will always be there for you as long as I live. I will never let anyone hurt you."

* * *

Gohan sat straight up in bed, his breathing coming in short and loud pants.

'_A dream… no, not a dream. A memory.' _

The dream had been so vivid. He was so engrossed with the dream he had had, that he almost didn't notice the company in his presense.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up." Vegeta growled. "You're getting lazier as you get older."

"Vegeta!" Bulma snapped at her rude husband. "He isn't in the best of conditions right now, as you can see."

Vegeta scoffed and glared out the hospital window. "That Yamcha friend of you should be back anytime now. And he should have a senzu bean. Then I want to know exactly what happened." He turned back go Gohan. "I want to know just who is capable of taking down a Super Saiyan."

Trunks and Goten who had been off retrieving some snacks from the hospital vending machine walked in and saw that the other half-Saiyan had finally awoken.

"Gohan!"

"Big brother!"

The two yelled in unison. Goten rushing forward and throwing his hands around Gohan's neck, dropping his snacks onto the floor in excitement.

Gohan winced unintentionally under his brother's crushing hug. "Goten…"

"Oh, right! Sorry…" His younger brother mumbled, releasing his hold.

Gohan took a deep breath and sat up in bed, his body protesting with every movement.

"What happened?! Who did this to you? Trunks and I can—"

"Goten!" Bulma hissed. "Your brother just woke up. Talking a million miles an hour isn't going to help him, besides he needs his rest right now. I swear you Saiyans and your overeagerness to go off and fight something…"

"Bulma… It's alright." Gohan breathed. "I'll be fine. I'm honestly not sure who or what did this to me…"

"Don't be absurb!" Vegeta barked at the younger half-Saiyan. "How can you not know who did this to you? Do you not have eyes in your head…?"

Gohan frowned. "Well of course I saw what attacked me… problem is, I don't know exactly what it is."

"What did he look like brother?"

"Like nothing I've ever seen before. His whole figure was like a shroud of darkness. The only thing I could make out were his eyes, they glowed an intense red." Gohan ignored Vegeta's scoff in response and continued. "And he was strong… like no one I've ever fought before. I couldn't even touch him, even as a Super Saiyan."

"That's not surprising, based off of how weak you've gotten. I bet even Trunks and Goten could knock you around fairly easily."

"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled, once again trying to filter the comments coming from her husband.

Gohan stared down, his fingers gripping the blankets tightly. _'What father and Vegeta said is true… I am weak. I let everyone down… If only I'd kept up with my training…'_

"Why don't you use that form you used against Cell? If I recall, you were the only one to achieve and master that form."

Gohan frowned. "I have thought about that… but there is only one downside to that. I never truly mastered that form. And I haven't tried to become a Super Saiyan two in years. I'm not even sure I can still do it."

"What do you mean you haven't mastered it?" Vegeta snapped.

Gohan looked Vegeta in the eyes when he spoke. "The truth is that I still can't control it."

"Well then you better start trying! Unless you genuinely enjoy being weak. You're as useless as ever. I will take care of our new enemy, why don't you keep studying your books, that's all you're good for these days anyways."

"Vegeta! That's it! Trunks, I'm sorry but we're leaving!" Bulma grabbed the purple-haired half-Saiyan by the arm and dragged him out, Vegeta slowly following behind.

"Gohan, don't listen to him. I know you can beat our new enemy. You and father have never failed before, and I'm willing to help. You aren't weak, you're more powerful than him, that's why he's so intimidated."

Gohan shook his head. "No Goten, he's right. I've grown weak as I've gotten older. Times have been peaceful and I naively thought I could relax. Now Earth is in danger and I'm lying powerless in a hospital bed. I have to at least try to leave…" Gohan began to try to force himself up but the pain was intense.

"Gohan, relax. You need your rest." Goten tried to force his brother back down. "You have to stay in bed so you can heal."

"Actually…" A voice came from the doorway to the hospital. "It's time for you to get up Gohan."

The boys looked up and recognized Yamcha, leaning casually on the doorway. He was trying to appear calm and relaxed but his breathing suggested he had just gotten back from a long and tiresome journey.

"Yamcha!" The boys yelled in unison.

"Eat up Gohan, you have a huge fight ahead of you." Yamcha tossed the Senzu beans to Gohan, who caught them gratefully

* * *

Now that Gohan is all healed up, it's time to buckle down and train hard. And now he's got an obligation to fulfill with Videl. That should be interesting!

Yay! **Shattered World hit 100 followers**! I am still blown away by all the support I'm getting. I can't thank you guys enough for all that you do. I love every single of one o you!

In response to a few reviews from the last chapter… I don't think hitting Gohan was that OOC for Goku. He has punched Gohan before in an attempt to stop him from doing something stupid. I see Goku as the kind of person who communicates through fighting. His punch to Gohan did not have the intention of hurting his son behind it. Instead the punch was to knock some sense into him!


	9. Chapter 9 - Planning

**Disclaimer: In this chapter I don't own Dragon Ball Z, The Bloodhound Gang, Pinterest, Netflix, PowerPoint, Facebook and Once Upon a Time. Oh, and I still don't own Gohan. **

**No proofreader for this chapter. I apologize ahead of time for the mistakes. **

Chapter 9 – Planning

Videl carefully made her way to the parking lot of the hospital, the wheels in her mind still turning over the concept of 'Ki' over and over. At first thought, the idea had seemed ridiculous, insane even. Videl was the type of girl that needed proof of something existing before blindly believing it, however, Gohan wasn't the first person in her life to mention Ki. She hadn't been lying when she said her instructors had spoke about it. They never went into detail though so the concept was pushed to the back of her mind. Could it really be possible to sense another living being's Ki? Videl approached her car and unlocked it manually. There was only one way to find out and that was to have Gohan train her. Videl was a master of her father's martial arts style, and arguably one of the best fighter's in the world. She had won many tournaments as a true testament to her father's legacy. If she couldn't master sensing another fighter's Ki, then the ability to do so simply didn't exist. She sighed and climbed into her vehicle, closing her eyes and leaning her head back to relax momentarily.

'_Or could what Gohan said be right and we are in the middle of a dark age of martial arts?'_ Videl shook her head wildly. _'No… what would Gohan know about anything any ways? He's just some nerd who has read way too many books.'_ Videl's musings to herself were interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing.

_You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel…_

Videl arched an amused eyebrow at the ringtone blaring from her phone. She was unsurprised to see that it was Erasa who was calling and she had probably sneakily changed her personal ringtone last time Videl and her had gone out. Videl cleared her throat and snatched the phone up, sliding her finger across the screen to answer it.

"Hello?"

"_Why hello Vee! How is my fine friend this evening?"_

"I'm fine… did you change my ringtone?"

Videl could hear her friend snicker from the other end of the phone, clearly indicating herself as the culprit.

"_I don't know what you're talking about Videl… anyways, what are you doing tonight?"_

"Oh nothing… I don't have any plans. Probably just chill at home and catch some Netflix. Did you know all three seasons of Once Upon a Time are on there?"

"_Oh goodness Videl, sometimes I worry about you. How about instead we go out and have a girl's night? I have some big news to tell you!"_

"What's the big news? Did you forget to turn the stove off again and almost burn down your house? I know you have a thing for firefighters and all but that's not necessarily the best way to meet someone."

Erasa grinned into the phone. _"I'm not telling you, you'll have to meet me tonight to find out my big news. And it's definitely worth it! Trust me."_

Videl twirled her hair between her fingers, debating on whether or not to meet with her bubbly friend. On one hand, she was beyond tired, cranky and exhausted. On the other hand, it had been awhile since she had seen Erasa and she was ready for some fun. This week had been a roller coaster of emotions and stress. Besides, she was curious to see what news Erasa was so eager to tell her.

"Well alright, fine! Where would you like to meet and what time? I just finished up with something for work so I'd like to be able to shower before we meet up." Videl left out the details of Gohan, Yamcha and the hospital. She didn't want to try to explain anything to her friend who had a bad habit of jumping to conclusions.

"_How about 8 O'clock at Tony's Italian Restaurant? I could use a nice big glass of wine."_

Videl smiled and chuckled. "You and me both Erasa. 8'clock it is, I'll see you then."

Videl hung up the phone and set it down in her cup holder. She had to admit she was glad Erasa had called and offered a distraction from a weird and stressful week. Videl threw the car into drive and began to make her way home. Even with her anticipation of the night to come with Erasa, her thoughts kept drifting back to Gohan and Yamcha. Guilt had begun to sink in about being so grumpy with Gohan ever since she had met him. He always seemed to be so mild-mannered and polite. She had to admit that she really did feel bad for how badly he had gotten hurt; she was going to do whatever it takes to bring his attacker to justice. From now on, she also vowed to be a little more understanding and kind to Gohan. He was, after all, the closest thing Yamcha had to a best friend. There had to be a good reason Yamcha liked and respected Gohan so much. In fact, she made up her mind to go and visit Gohan again tomorrow after work. She knew how lonely a stay in the hospital could be; he would probably welcome the company.

She sighed, happy with her decision. Videl finally arrived at home and ascended up the stairs to the front door of her apartment. When she was safely inside with the door locked, she wasted no time stripping off her clothes while she made her way to the bathroom. Living alone certainly had its perks.

The steamy shower was a welcome enjoyment to a stressful day. The warm water felt amazing on her sore muscles and the aroma of her body wash was relaxing. Videl was glad she wasn't meeting her friend until eight so she could take her time in the shower.

When she finally finished, she stepped out of the shower onto the cool tile. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself, tucking it securely into place so it wouldn't fall off, and then wrapping another around her head to dry her hair. She wiped the steam from her mirror and began putting light amounts of makeup on. Videl had never been a big makeup wearer, but she figured on the nights she was going out with Erasa a little makeup was mandatory. Her friend had a habit of caking the stuff on and Videl knew she would notice if Videl failed to even put a little mascara on. After completing her makeup, she headed to her closet to pick out a dress. She retrieved a beautiful, form fitting dress that hung off of one shoulder. She slipped the dress on and zipped it up to complete her look. Videl glanced at the time.

'_7:27PM… perfect. I love when things work out.'_

She headed back towards the front room and retrieved her keys and purse. Videl headed out the front door, locking it before walking to her car. Videl's phone vibrated indicating a text message. She waited until she was at a stoplight to glance down.

"_On my way. See you soon Vee. – Erasa."_

Videl quickly texted back before the light had a chance to change. _"I'm on my way too. – Videl"_

When Videl arrived at the parking lot she was glad to see the restaurant wasn't too busy. It was late on a Sunday night so most of the dinner crowd had already fizzled away. She pulled into a close parking spot and headed inside. Erasa was already waiting inside at a table near the front. She eagerly waved Videl over.

"Hey Videl! May I say you're looking stunning tonight?" Erasa winked.

Videl blushed slightly obviously uncomfortable getting dressed up. "Thanks Erasa."

"How was work? You don't usually work on Sundays."

Videl nodded slowly, taking her seat across from Erasa and picking up the menu. "Yeah, but I'm working on a case that's consuming even a lot of my free time."

"Oh? And what case is that? Or is that confidential information?"

"Eh…" Videl frowned. "I'm not really supposed to give out any details, but it has to do with the playground incident you reported."

"About how the same thing happened at Capsule Corporation?"

Videl lowered the menu, slightly shocked. "How did you…?"

Erasa smiled. "It was all over the news. When I saw Capsule Corporation I noticed the damage looked very similar to the damage at the playground. It wasn't hard to put it all together."

Videl nodded slowly, feeling a little dumb for being shocked. She knew the media was all over the incident. They had harassed her on more than one occasion begging for a statement but she had waved them off.

"I just feel so bad for that Gohan fellow." Erasa continued. "He was just bestowed such an amazing position at Capsule Corporation and had it all taken away in the blink of an eye. His career ended before it even began."

Videl snorted, "Oh come on Erasa, you're being a little overdramatic. They'll rebuild the place and it will be like the incident never happened. Capsule Corp has boat loads of money, not to mention insurance will get involved and a lot of the cost of rebuilding will be covered."

Erasa shrugged. "Yeah, well maybe."

A waiter approached their table. "Good evening ladies, my name is Luigi and I'll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you out with something to drink? Maybe a glass of wine?"

"No thank you," Videl said. "I'd like just a glass of water with a lemon."

"Oh come on Videl," Erasa turned to the waiter. "Bring us a bottle of wine. Whatever the house special is tonight."

"Erasa!" Videl hissed when the waiter had left to retrieve their drinks. "That is hardly the kind of wine a cop and a teacher can afford on the wages we make and if you think I'll use my father's credit card to pay for this you—"

Erasa waved her friend off. "Calm down Videl, I'll pay for it. Besides, I'm the one that wanted to meet with you tonight. I have big news, remember? We should celebrate."

"Oh yeah… I almost forgot about that. What's going on?"

The waiter returned, setting down Videl's water, a couple of wine glasses and a loaf of fresh garlic bread. He opened the bottle and began pouring some for each girl. He asked the girl's for their orders and the jotted down their answers, scooping up their menus as he left. Erasa waited patiently for the waiter to finish and walk away before continuing.

"Well…" Erasa blushed slightly.

Videl was shocked to see that her friend could even be embarrassed enough to blush. Her desire to know Erasa's big news grew exponentially. "Spit it out Erasa!"

"I'm getting married!" Erasa smiled happily.

Videl resisted making a girlish squeal that was very out of character for her. "What?! He finally asked?" Sharpner and Erasa had been together since their senior year of high school. For all of Erasa's joking about hitting on other guys, she knew Erasa loved Sharpner and would never be disloyal to him. The two of them finally tying the knot was a long time coming.

"Yeah! He finally asked. I'm so excited! Now I need to begin planning a wedding."

"Congratulations Erasa!" Videl said very genuinely. "When is the wedding?" She casually reached for her own glass of wine.

"One month from today… well, a little less than that. We're having it on a Saturday."

Videl choked on the wine she was sipping. "One month? Are you crazy? You're not pregnant are you? That's hardly adequate time to plan a wedding…"

A piece of bread collided with Videl's head. "Videl! I'm not pregnant! This wedding has just been a long time coming. I practically have the whole thing planned via Pinterest."

"Oh yeah…" Videl rolled her eyes, suddenly picturing her hyperactive friend's Pinterest boards filled to the brim with different wedding ideas. "Well, I hope I can get off work with that short of a notice."

"You will get off work." Erasa said firmly. "Because I want you to be my maid of honor."

Videl's eyes brightened and she smiled widely. "Really?"

Erasa laughed. "Don't act so surprised Videl. We've been best friends practically our whole lives. It's only natural that I ask you."

"Well I would be honored to be your maid of honor."

Erasa snickered. "Now, we just need to find you a date before then."

Videl narrowed her eyes. "Of course you would say that. I think we should be more worried about planning your wedding in such a short amount of time."

"Oh come on! This is important too. Who goes to a wedding single? That seems so unheard of to me."

"Lots of people go to weddings dateless. I'm not about to sit here and argue my point. Unless you would like to, because I'll be more than happy to go home and make a PowerPoint presentation with bullet points."

"Okay okay, fine. Gees Vee!" Erasa waved her hands.

The girls spent quite a bit of time after chatting about life in general and catching up. Dinner had been delicious but Videl hardly ate anything, her mind was still mulling over the details of her latest case. Videl was careful to keep any details about Gohan out of the conversation. She knew Erasa was prone to jumping to conclusions and holding off a barrage of questions from the blonde was something she was too mentally exhausted to do.

"More wine?" Erasa asked when Videl finished her first glass.

Videl shook her head slowly. "I shouldn't, I need to be okay to drive home tonight and I have to work tomorrow bright and early."

"I guess that makes sense. You should take the rest of the bottle with you to finish some other time!"

"Erasa, I am not taking this bottle of wine. There is only two glasses out of it and you paid a pretty penny for it."

"Oh please Videl, I am not stupid. You can't hide how tense you are from me; I can tell you are stressed with what's going on with work. Maybe this will help you relax when you need it."

"Are you really suggesting I drink my sorrows away?" Videl's eyes twinkled playfully at her friend.

Erasa laughed. "Yeah, maybe. Seriously though, take it. Consider it a gift for being my maid of honor."

"Fine, I'll take it but I owe you for this." Videl's phone suddenly vibrated in her purse. She reached in and grabbed her phone to check who it was.

'_Satan City West Hospital – Dr. Toriyama.'_ The caller ID on the phone displayed brightly.

Videl swallowed nervously and looked over at her friend apologetically. "Sorry Erasa, I have to take this. It's work related."

Erasa nodded understandingly.

"Hello, this is Videl."

"_Officer Satan… Gohan is gone."_

"What?" She all but hissed into the receiver.

"_He isn't in his hospital bed anymore. You wouldn't happen to know where he is at would you? His injuries are too severe. He shouldn't be away from the hospital, he could die…"_

"I have no idea where he is… How long has he been gone?"

"_I'll admit I have no idea. The nurse discovered an empty bed just moments ago."_

"Okay… I'm on my way."

"_Actually Videl, there is no need to come here. We have already thoroughly checked the hospital. Just make sure you find him and bring him back here so he doesn't die."_

"Got it. I will find Gohan and make sure he comes back to the hospital." Videl hung up the phone and stuck it back in her purse.

"I'm sorry Erasa… but I really have to go." Videl hurriedly began digging through her purse to locate some cash to pay for her half of dinner and tip the waiter.

"Gohan? Is that the same Gohan from Capsule Corporation? That isn't exactly a common name."

'_Crap.'_ Videl mentally swore to herself.

"And why would you be his emergency contact?"

Videl thought up a lie quickly. "Because he's my cousin. And I'm the one that took him to the hospital when all of the stuff went down at Capsule Corporation."

Erasa squeaked excitedly. "Son Gohan is your cousin? I would love to get to know him! He seems insanely smart. Do you think you could talk him into speaking to one of my classes?"

Videl could feel herself start to sweat. "Whoa, slow down. I mean… I'll ask, but my cousin is a very busy man understandably." She finally located some money and laid it on the table.

"How did he get injured? I don't remember him being hurt from the news reports the other night. I didn't think he was even at Capsule Corporation when the incident happened."

"He wasn't. But a lot has happened since then and it's complicated. I'm sorry Erasa I really have to go. I'll text you though, alright?" Videl gave her friend a quick hug and started heading towards the door.

"Okay Videl, but I want details later." Erasa waved. "Hey, wait! You forgot your bottle of wine!" Erasa yelled after Videl but she had already left the restaurant.

* * *

Gohan lay restlessly in bed at Yamcha's place. He wasn't tired, especially after sleeping so much the last couple of days. He wanted to be out training but night had fallen and he decided it would be best to force himself to go to bed so his sleep schedule wouldn't be off. He absent-mindedly checked his phone, scrolling through his Facebook newsfeed trying to bore himself to sleep. His phone vibrated.

'_Where are you Gohan? The hospital just called and said you weren't there. Go back, don't do anything stupid. Your injuries are too severe, you could die.'_

Gohan didn't recognize the number but he could put the clues together to figure out it was Videl texting him. He figured she must have saved his number in the short time she had his phone. He put his phone to sleep and rolled over in bed sighing. Guilt washed over him. Videl had been rude and pushy at the hospital, and he was a little irked she had gone through his phone but she had kept a close eye on him at the hospital. He wished he had the time to repay her for the time she spent watching over him while he was in the coma. Yamcha had been right about his partner, she was bright, beautiful, and fiercely passionate about what she believed in. Maybe when everything going on blew over, he would train her to sense Ki to repay her for her kindnesses.

'_That is __**if**__ everything blows over. There's no guarantee I will even be able to defeat these guys.'_

Gohan sighed and turned over again. There were still some things he needed to take care of in town before he headed to West City to train intensively. He was still enrolled in classes and he and Bulma had to work out some details with the insurance companies about the incident at Capsule Corporation. Gohan forced himself to his feet and walked out to the main room.

"Yamcha?"

"Hm?" Yamcha looked up from the television show he was watching. "What's up Gohan? I thought you were going to bed."

"I was but Videl just texted me. Do you mind getting a hold of her and letting her know not to worry about me? She's still my emergency contact and it's a little weird that I was able to just 'escape' somehow."

Yamcha swore under his breath, feeling a little stupid for not thinking about that. "Yeah, I'll give her a call."

"Thanks." Gohan said simply, rubbing his temples. He was starting to get a stress-induced headache. He decided to head to the sink to grab a glass of water.

Yamcha scrolled through his contacts and located his partner's number. He dialed and listened to it ring a few times before Videl picked up.

"_Yamcha!"_ She shouted into the phone before he could say anything. "_Where have you been? Gohan's gone missing! I know you asked me to keep an eye on him and I'm sorry… I'll figure it out and get him back. But you need to come back! The chief is going to fire you if you don't show up at work by tomorrow!"_ Yamcha held the phone a good distance away from his ear as not to suffer from hearing loss from all the yelling.

He cleared his throat. "First of all, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. I will be back at work tomorrow, and Gohan is fine. Don't worry about him. Get some rest and I'll see you soon."

"_What do you mean Gohan is fine? I'm pretty sure just hours ago he was so beat up he couldn't even stand. If you care about him you'll drag him back to the hospital. In fact, if you're the reason Gohan isn't in the hospital right now recovering, I might have to put you in the hospital_."

Gohan stared amused watching his friend hold the phone away from his ear once more.

Yamcha swallowed nervously. "Now now Videl, there's no need for that. Besides, why do you care so much about Gohan's well-being? Do you have a crush on him or something?"

Gohan choked on his water a bit and then shot his friend a glare.

"_You…you're dead… I'm going to come kill you. After everything you've put me through you have the nerve to—"_

"Videl! Calm down! I'm sorry. That was a horribly timed joke. Please. I'm going to ask you once more to trust me. Gohan is in great hands right now. As promised, I will answer whatever questions you have tomorrow, just please… be patient. And don't kill me!"

Videl sighed. _"The things I do for my idiotic partner… Once again, I will trust you. But if you don't have a good explanation for everything first thing tomorrow morning I'm going to follow through on my threat to kill you. And no, I'm not kidding."_

Yamcha nodded nervously into the phone. "Yes ma'am. I will see you tomorrow!" After he hung up the phone he turned to his half-Saiyan friend. "So, what do I tell her tomorrow?"

Gohan shrugged and gave him a sympathetic smile. "That's for you to deal with. She's your friend."

"Gohan! Seriously man!"

"I don't know, you could try the truth?"

Yamcha rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah Gohan… I can picture it now. Listen Videl, Gohan is fine. I gave him a magical bean and it completely healed him. Also he has super powers."

Gohan chuckled a bit. "Okay, I see your point. Maybe not then… But then again, I don't think she's as close-minded as you think. She certainly doesn't seem to be as idiotic as her father."

"Oh, cause you know oh-so-much about Videl from your short time knowing her. She definitely isn't anything like that joke of a dad she has, but Videl only believes in what she has tangible proof of."

Gohan shrugged again. "Well then, like I said, you're on your own with that one."

"Is that what you say to the friend that just saved your life?!"

"You're right. Trust me Yamcha, I will never forget you or your sacrifice. The day you gave your life for me will live on forever in my heart." Gohan smirked. "Because tomorrow she's probably going to kill you."

"Gohan!" Yamcha yelped.

"Good night Yamcha! I'll see you tomorrow." Gohan disappeared once again into the guest bedroom, leaving Yamcha behind to figure out how to spend his last night on Earth.

"Gohan…" Yamcha muttered under his breath. "When I die tomorrow I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life."

* * *

Hellooooo lovely readers! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know things are moving kind of slow but I promise Videl and Gohan will be together (yay!). Thank you for the ah-mazing reviews. Some make me smile, others make me think… and then there are some that just make me laugh (Looking at you LegendofTomorrow).

ALSO, I feel like it's important to note that the next chapter will be a little dark (eep!). We're definitely going to make sure we stick to the PG-13 rating but things might get a little intense.

Anyways, until next time! I look forward to reading what you all thought! Leave a review pretty please! (:


	10. Chapter 10 - Real Evil

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of its characters. This includes Gohan, unfortunately…**

**Also, please be warned there is sort of a dark scene near the end of the chapter. I don't want to give any details but I hope no one is offended.**

**No proofreader for this chapter. I apologize ahead of time for the mistakes. **

Chapter 10 – Real Evil

Videl jogged into the police department building, a piece of toast dangling from her mouth as she stuck her house keys in her pocket. As she approached her desk she was unsurprised to see her partner casually leaned back in her chair, feet kicked up on her desk.

"Running late, partner?" Yamcha said casually, giving her a sideways glance.

Videl felt a smile tug involuntarily at her lips. She had missed and even worried about Yamcha while he was gone. Hearing his voice on the phone was one thing, but seeing him in person was a whole different feeling of relief.

Videl grabbed the piece of toast from her mouth. "A little. I decided to walk to work today since it was so nice." She admitted, setting her coffee on the desk. "What did the chief say to you?"

"Gave me a warning. Said if I ever did it again, he would fire me, regardless of who my grandfather was. He said he understands me needing to take time off for a friend, but in the future he would rather hear it from me rather than another officer. "

Videl nodded. "Well, you can't really blame him. You did run off without telling anyone where you were going." Videl was sure to emphasize the word 'anyone'.

He reached up and scratched his head softly. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that." He used his feet to push his body away from the desk and then stood up. "Shall we go? I know you have million questions for me. We can talk during our first patrol."

Videl smiled in response. "You're damn right I do. And I'm not going to let you spare any details. Let me go put my bag in my locker and I'll be right out to the car."

After Videl had put her bag away, the two headed out to his patrol car and climbed in. Videl absent-mindedly nibbled on her breakfast and sipped her coffee. When the doors were securely shut and Yamcha was pulling the car out into the streets, Videl couldn't help but blurt a question.

"Where were you these passed couple of days?"

Yamcha sighed. "Videl, whatever I tell you from now on is the truth. No matter how unbelievable. Before I left I told you I would be honest, you have to trust what I say."

Videl nodded slowly. "I trust you."

As they pulled up to a stoplight, Yamcha turned to face his partner, who appeared to be hanging on his every word. "I went to get Gohan some special medicine. This special medicine has the ability to heal all wounds and restore a person's depleted energy."

Videl blinked, processing his words. "Huh? If there was some sort of special medicine to help him heal, why didn't you let the doctors handle it? Dr. Toriyama seemed to be very capable of taking care of Gohan…"

"Videl, the medicine doesn't just _help_ him heal his wounds. It instantly heals all wounds. And it isn't something that any doctor's have readily available in their stock."

Videl scoffed. "Seriously? If such a medicine existed, why do more doctors not have this medicine? Tons of people die every year from car accidents. If this so called medicine that could heal all wounds existed, we wouldn't have nearly as many deaths. And even if such a thing existed, the supply has to be really limited. Gohan is a nice guy and all, but why is he worthy of receiving such a treatment? Not trying to sound like a jerk… well, too late. I sound like a jerk."

"Because Videl, Gohan is special. Without Gohan, no one would even be alive today. If anyone deserves to be healthy, it is Gohan."

She narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about? Honestly, I had never even heard of Gohan until he took the position at Capsule Corporation. Is he some sort of doctor? Did he stop some pandemic from occurring?"

"Well, he is a doctor, having multiple PhD's and all. But he's not the kind of doctor I think you've got in mind."

"Then just what did you mean by 'no one would even be alive today if it weren't for Gohan'?"

Yamcha frowned, unsure of how to continue. Anything from that point on would probably seem completely nuts. However, he owed her the truth. It was up to her on whether or not to believe it.

"About fifty years ago Gohan's father was sent to this planet as a guardian. His father was part of an ancient race called the Saiyans. They were a powerful warrior race, loyal to the Kai's who watch over the entire universe. Gohan and his father have saved this planet countless times from being destroyed."

"Wait… what? Hold on, you mean Gohan's some sort of alien? And who the heck are the Kai's?"

"Well, half-alien. His mother is a human from Earth. The Kai's are powerful beings that watch over the whole universe." Yamcha was a little surprised to see Videl taking in his words instead of just completely shrugging them off as a joke. Gohan was right; maybe Videl wasn't as close-minded as he originally thought.

"Fine, I'll bite." Videl crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. "How do Gohan and his father protect this world? Superpowers? Is he kind of like superman? Is kryptonite his weakness?"

Yamcha narrowed his eyes and sighed at her obvious sarcasm. "Superpowers? Kind of. If you saw them fight you would certainly think so. Actually, the Saiyans are masters of manipulating their own Ki, allowing them to do extraordinary things such as fly."

Videl whipped her head towards him. '_Ki control… it's the same thing Gohan was talking about…' _"Can't anyone learn to control and sense Ki?"

"Perhaps. The art itself is difficult to master. Probably why only a handful of humans left on Earth know how to do it. However, the Saiyans are on a whole different level. Not only are they masters of controlling their Ki but they are full of unreal amounts of power. This is part of the reason they were chosen by the Kais to protect the planets."

Videl stared at him for a moment before losing her cool and cracking up. "You are something else Yamcha, you know that? I certainly missed how hilarious you were while you were gone. I'll let you off the hook today, but I want the truth later."

Yamcha laughed nervously with her. "Yeah, I'm a real funny guy aren't I?"

* * *

Videl didn't even attempt a second thought on the conversation Yamcha and her had had earlier. She had shrugged the ridiculousness of his story as a joke. She wasn't happy about him taking such a serious subject lightly, but she couldn't force him to talk. He would talk to her eventually. Her only concern was that Gohan was safely in a hospital bed somewhere.

However, as she casually leaned against a counter in the break room, preparing some vegetable soup in the microwave for lunch, she learned exactly what became of Gohan's fate. The television in the break room would certainly help shine some light on what had happened. And it was utterly unbelievable.

'_Channel 6 is live at Satan City University, proud to be one of the first news station bringing you this story today. One week ago Capsule Corporation Satan City was destroyed under bizarre circumstances that have yet to be solved by police. Today Bulma Briefs, the current CEO of Capsule Corporation, and Gohan Son will be answering any questions the people of Satan City may have. Stay tuned, the press conference starts in three minutes.'_

When the camera panned out and Videl caught a glimpse of the uninjured, perfectly healthy Gohan, she involuntarily knocked over her coffee cup, spilling the warm contents onto the floor. "Shit." Videl hastily bent over, grabbing some napkins and quickly soaking the liquid up.

"You alright there Videl?" Officer Leroy in the break room asked, barely hiding the amusement in his voice.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Videl replied, hastily throwing the wet napkins into the nearest trashcan. _'There is no way that's him… He was barely alive just days ago. Why is everyone acting like this is normal?' _It suddenly occurred to her that she was probably one of the only people to know Gohan had even been hospitalized. Yamcha had taken Gohan to the hospital, and she had watched over him while he was there. The hospital staff was sworn into secrecy according to Doctor-Patient confidentiality. But why was Bulma acting so normal? She also had seen Gohan battered and beaten, but here she was standing casually next to him like everything was normal. Had Yamcha been telling the truth? Was there really a medicine that could heal all wounds? The evidence in front of her eyes certainly supported his claims.

The microwave beeped three times signaling her soup was ready. She walked over to the microwave and carefully pulled out her bowl, blowing on the soup to cool it. Videl wondered just how much of the story Yamcha had told was the truth, he had laughed with her when she laughed at his explanation. Videl felt completely confused, unsure of just what to think.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the camera cut in to a shot of Bulma and Gohan, standing side by side at a podium. Flashes constantly filled the screen as every reporter wanted to get a shot of the two executive members of Capsule Corporation. Bulma cleared her throat, being the first to speak.

"_Hello, first of all I wanted to thank everyone for being here. I know you all have a bunch of questions for us and we're going to do our best to answer them. My assistant here, Mr. Shinimori, is going to be picking the order of questions to be answered. We'll try to answer quickly and efficiently so everyone can have a turn. So without further pause, we'll begin."_

A flood of hands erupted amongst the reporters, each wanting to be the first person that Mr. Shinimori called on to have a question answered. He indicated one by pointing and the reporter stood to ask.

"_This question is for both. How much do you know about what happened to Capsule Corporation Satan City?"_

"_We know that that location will need to be completely rebuilt. However, we are unsure of who is responsible if that's what you're asking."_ Bulma leaned forward to speak first.

"_But we know the police are working diligently to locate the criminals responsible."_ Gohan added.

Videl was a bit vexed when the reporter followed up with a question asking if Gohan and Bulma really thought the police would find the criminals based off of how well they were doing keeping the city crime-free. Bulma and Gohan ignored his question completely thankfully.

"_Mrs. Briefs, what does this mean for the future of Capsule Corporation?"_ A skinny, redheaded reporter stood up.

"_It means nothing."_ Bulma spoke without hesitation. _"We have had hiccups in the past and we have rebuilt. This will be no different."_

"_I know you have both mentioned you're not sure who is responsible, but are you aware of what type of weapon was used? The damage was unusual."_ A different reporter asked.

"_That is also under investigation."_ Bulma spoke.

"_If the police don't know anything, how can we be sure the city is even safe?"_

"_No harm will come to Satan City."_ Gohan said firmly, and Videl thought it sounded more like personal promise than a statement of confidence in the city's police force. _"The people of Satan City shouldn't be worried."_

"_Are you at least aware if this was a random attack or if it was an attack specifically against Capsule Corporation?"_

"_We have reason to believe that the attack was specifically against Capsule Corporation."_ Gohan replied calmly.

"Somebody pinch me, I have to be dreaming…" Videl muttered, still in disbelief at how healthy Gohan appeared to be. In fact, he seemed perfectly calm, as he answered the reporter's questions. It was crazy how unfamiliar he appeared in that state, she had never seen him wear a suit and tie before. Videl was interrupted from her thoughts by a sharp pain in her cheek. "Hey!" She angrily turned towards the source.

Officer Leroy flinched at her raised fist. "Oh… sorry Videl. You wanted someone to pinch you."

"I didn't really want someone to actually do it!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" He raised his arms defensively.

Videl huffed.

"Do you girls really think Gohan is that dreamy?"

Videl narrowed her eyes towards Leroy. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you asked for someone to pinch you. I'm assuming it's because you thought he was so attractive. At least, that's what I hear from all the women in my life."

"No! That is not what I meant by that!" Videl yelped.

"Oh, well then, what did you mean?"

"I… you… never mind! It doesn't matter." Videl turned back towards the television, blushing furiously. She would come off as crazy to her fellow officer if she told him what her statement really meant. For the rest of her lunch hour she watched the press conference in deep interest. If there was such a medicine that could heal all wounds, Videl wanted to know more about it. She intended to grill her partner with questions after lunch.

* * *

Videl slammed her locker shut after retrieving her bag. She was eager to get home and sort of regretted not bringing her car to work. She headed out of the office and began her long walk home. When she had attempted to get more answers from her partner he had continued to be very vague, but almost made a very noticeable effort to keep dropping "I told you so's" from time to time.

A warm summer breeze blew through her hair. Videl smiled to herself, enjoying the weather. She was reminded of why she decided to walk home in the first place. As eager as she had been before, she decided to take her time and enjoy the weather.

Videl thought about what kind of wedding Erasa might be having. Most likely a destination wedding, since it would be hard to find a wedding venue on such short notice. Videl certainly hoped beaches would be involved wherever she decided to have it. A vacation sounded beyond wonderful right now. Nothing could beat beaches, the sun, sand, seashells and ocean water.

She hadn't gotten very far when she heard what sounded like footsteps behind her. Videl whipped around but saw no one there. Shrugging, and deciding the noise was all in her head she continued on.

"Officer Videl Satan." A mocking voice came from behind her.

"Hm?" She turned slowly, suspicious that someone would be calling out to her. Her eyes widened when she realized it was the leader of the robber's from the bank. "You…! How did you get out of prison?"

"Does it matter? You humiliated us and put us behind bars. I'm going to make you pay."

Before Videl could reach for her handgun he already had a gun pointed at her.

"Now now, let's not do anything hasty. If you cooperate you might be able to get out of this unharmed. Slowly drop your gun and kick it over to me."

Videl swallowed nervously and did as he asked. She tossed the gun to the ground and kicked it over to him. She took her time doing so hoping that someone would drive by and see what was happening but unfortunately for her no one drove by.

Once he had Videl's gun safely in his possession, he reached his hand out and grabbed her arm, roughly yanking her towards him. He raised his gun and placed it firmly on her temple. "Do everything I say or I will blow your pretty little brains out. I learned my lesson last time on how resourceful you can be, I will not hesitate to shoot you this time around. Do you understand?"

Videl nodded quickly, the wheels in her head turning, trying to think of possible scenarios on how to escape her attacker. She was mentally kicking herself for being so careless and allowing herself to be caught off guard.

Her attacker led her to an unmarked white van Videl had previously failed to notice. He slid open the door and threw her inside, still pointing the gun towards her.

"Yamu, tie her up. She's a feisty one. She is Hercule Satan's daughter after all." The leader of the group spat on the sidewalk.

"Yes master."

Inside the van there were two muscly, bald men. The smaller one, Yamu, grabbed her roughly and zip-tied her wrists together.

"Spopovich, head back to the warehouse." The other bald man, the driver, nodded and turned on the vehicle. He was careful to follow the posted speed limit as to not draw any unwanted attention from anyone.

Videl stared out the window, trying to figure out where they were taking her. She wanted to memorize every street they took and turn they made so that when she escaped she could lead the rest of the police force back to the warehouse to make an arrest.

The ringleader of their group, as if reading her mind, turned towards her. "I see what you're doing now. Clever girl, but you won't be escaping this time around. Yamu, please also blindfold her."

Yamu nodded, grabbing some thick black cloth from a bag. He folded it up and placed it over eyes, tying it securely in a knot so she couldn't remove it.

Finally, after what Videl felt to be around twenty or so minutes, the car came to a stop and was shut off. Videl heard the door of the van slide open and her arm was roughly grabbed again as they pulled her out. The force of being pulled caught her off balance and she crashed onto the pavement, skinning her knee in the process.

"On your feet girl, we don't have time for this." Yamu grabbed Videl and hoisted her to her feet. "Now walk." He shoved her forward roughly, using a gun on her lower back as extra motivation.

Videl had no choice but to follow the group's orders. She was starting to fear for her life. Videl lived alone; no one would notice she was missing until the next morning when she didn't show up for work. If she was going to get out of this she was going to have to do it by herself.

Videl heard a door creak open and she was taken inside a building. A musty smell filled her nostrils; the building smelled very old and was probably abandoned. She could tell the place was big and hollow based off of the way their footsteps echoed throughout the building. After walking for a while they stopped her. Videl heard scraping noises as something was dragged towards her. She couldn't make out exactly what it was but figured it out when she was roughly shoved into a chair. One of the men grabbed her arms and put them behind the chair.

"Now, zip-tie her feet to the chair. I don't want our guest to escape."

"What are you planning to do?" Videl growled into the darkness as Yamu kneeled beside her, zip-tying her legs to each chair leg.

The leader took a deep breath and sighed. "You see Videl, I'm now a wanted felon thanks to you. I need some money to get out of this country once and for all. Robbing banks was very high risk with a low payout. I was naïve before, but since then I've realized I had a goldmine in front of me all along."

"You sure the fact that you're a wanted felon has to do more with me than you? I don't recall forcing you to rob those banks. And what goldmine are you talking about? The bank you hit was the biggest one in town."

He chuckled in response. "Videl, I'm not talking about a bank. I'm talking about you. Your father is arguably the richest man in the world, he's got money in banks all across the world and I'm willing to bet he would do anything to save his little girl. Not only do you give me a chance towards riches, but having you in my possession gives me lot of leverage with your precious police force." The leader reached a hand down and stroked her cheek tenderly.

Videl snapped at his hand angrily. "You're a coward."

The leader pulled his hand back in response and punched her hard across her face. The force was hard enough to knock the chair she sat in over. He chuckled at her. "You may be our ticket to riches but all I need to do is keep you alive. We can definitely have some fun with you in the mean time. I do need to pay you back for that lovely trip to jail." He landed a powerful kick to her ribs.

The kick knocked the air out of Videl and made her gasp in response. Videl's eyes watered and she was sure he had broken a couple of ribs.

"Spopovich, Yamu."

"Yes sir?" The pair said in response.

"Have some fun with our guest. Nothing is off limits as long as she's kept alive. I'm going to begin working out the details of our kidnapping."

Spopovich and Yamu laughed in response, "You got it. We'll have some fun."

Videl could tell she was dealing with some truly evil individuals and she would have to think fast to get out of this predicament.

* * *

"I wanted to thank you again for your hospitality Yamcha. I'm sorry I have to leave on terms like this." Gohan bowed his head low in respect of his friend, balancing gracefully on the railing of the balcony.

"No problem man. I understand. Just come back and visit soon, I know you'll be able to take care of this joker if you train hard enough. Have a safe flight to West City."

Gohan smiled in response, readjusting his travel bag on his shoulder. "Thank you. I will certainly try my best. I'll be in touch." Gohan gave one last quick bow before turning to leave. He glanced around to make sure no one but Yamcha was around and leapt into the air.

"Goodbye Gohan!" He heard Yamcha call behind him and Gohan took off. He was sad to leave his old-time friend but he needed to get to West City to train. The Briefs' family had built gravity machines to keep the Saiyans in shape. Also, maybe if he asked Vegeta would spar with him.

Vegeta could deny it as much as he could, but he did owe Gohan his life. Back during the fight against Cell, Vegeta had carelessly rushed in against Cell. Cell could have easily killed him with one single Ki blast but Gohan had been able to jump in front of it in the knick of time. The attack severely injured his arm and Gohan still bore the scar from the attack.

As he neared the edge of the city, a troubled Ki tugged at him. Throughout the course of any given day, Gohan was subjected to thousands of Kis from the people living in Satan City. His father had taught him at a young age to learn to drown them out and only focus on the important and familiar ones. The Ki he felt was very familiar but he couldn't immediately put his finger on it. Gohan landed on top of the nearest building, closing his eyes and trying to focus on the source.

'_Videl. This is Videl's Ki. And it's fading fast.'_ Gohan's eyes flew open. Her Ki was gradually becoming weaker, flickering like a candle. Gohan made up his mind to investigate even if the chances that she was actually in trouble were slim. He owed her that at least, after everything she had done.

Gohan hopped off the building and took off flying in the direction he could feel Videl's ever-fading Ki.

* * *

Videl's ears were ringing and she was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. Even in her weakened state she could still hear the two of them laughing manically. She had been punched and kicked until it hurt to even breath. Blood was dripping from her mouth and multiple cuts had formed on her body from her skin splitting from the incredible force of their attacks. If Videl didn't know better, it sure felt like they were killing her.

"Calm down Spopovich. Master would be angry if we killed her."

"But… I'm just getting started. I love breaking her spirit and seeing how afraid she is. " Videl could hear Spopovich crack his knuckles.

"I know. But there are other ways to have fun with a girl and break her spirit than beating her up."

"And how is that Yamu?"

Videl could hear footsteps coming towards her and the chair she was strapped to was picked up off the ground and set upright. She felt a knife press against her throat. Suddenly she felt a hand slip under her shirt. "Like this Spopovich."

Videl's vision swam as she fought for consciousness. "Please… stop it…" She panted, too weak to defend herself from their attacks.

Yamu laughed and removed her blindfold. "Oh Videl, I'm just getting started. Let me see the fear in your eyes."

"Leave her alone." The command came from the other side of the room, it was cool and calm.

Yamu removed his hand from under Videl's shirt. "Who the hell are you?"

Videl weakly turned her head, making eye contact with Gohan as he stepped from the shadows. "G-Gohan...?"

"Release her peacefully and I might consider letting you live."

Yamu laughed wildly. "I don't know who you are but I'm in the middle of having some fun." He reached over and grabbed her chest roughly, pressing the knife back to her neck. Videl winced, trying to pull away. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me. That is, if you want this pretty little broad to liv—"

Yamu never finished his sentence. He suddenly found himself pressed against the warehouse wall, Gohan's hand on his throat. Yamu struggled against his attacker, reaching his hands up to try to remove the hand choking him. As he did the knife slipped from his grip and Gohan caught it before it hit the ground.

"I told you to let her go. I was really hoping you would listen because now I'm pissed off."

Yamu felt himself losing consciousness. Finally, as darkness started to creep into his vision, Gohan released him and he fell to the floor in a heap.

"You…!" Spopovich, finally overcoming his shock, raised a handgun to Gohan, firing at him wildly. Spopovich was sure he had made contact with the bullets. Holes had appeared in his clothes but Gohan showed no signs of noticing.

"Is that all you've got? You two are cowards that hide behind weapons. If Videl wasn't tied up I know she would have kicked the shit out of you." Gohan suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to Spopovich. He reached out and calmly crushed the gun, rendering it completely useless. Before Spopovich could react Gohan had him on the ground. "I need you to stay put for awhile." Gohan forced the knife through Spopovich's hand, pinning him to the ground.

Spopovich screamed wildly in response.

Videl blinked. She had to be hallucinating from being kicked in the head one too many times. What she saw Gohan do had been impossible. How did even know how to find her? Suddenly all fear and adrenaline she had been holding in came to the surface. She began struggling against the ties that bound her. Gohan's attacks had been so ruthless and now he was coming right towards her, his eyes tinted with an unnatural teal glow.

Gohan appeared next to her, pulling the zip ties apart with ease and but gently enough as to not harm her.

Videl started to try to run away but her legs were so battered and bruised that they almost immediately gave in. Gohan caught her in his arms effortlessly, shushing her softly as he did. "It's okay Videl. I won't hurt you."

His voice sounded so sincere and gentle, and she was so exhausted and tired. She couldn't struggle anymore if she wanted to. Videl leaned her head into the crook of his neck and gave into her exhaustion, slipping into unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry Videl, I promise I'll take you to get some help, but first I need to take care of the ringleader."

Gohan could sense a third Ki, more powerful and strong-willed than the other two but still completely insignificant in comparison to his own. Undoubtedly their leader had to know something had happened. There wasn't a chance he hadn't heard the commotion of the gunshots. Gohan wasn't afraid for his own safety, but worried that startling the leader would cause him to panic and a stray bullet might accidentally hit Videl. Making up his mind on how to handle the situation he walked outside the building, Videl still in his arms. He raised an open palm towards the warehouse, gathering enough Ki to destroy the building but not draw attention to what had happened there. The warehouse was just far enough out of town that no one would hear anything either. Normally, Gohan didn't much care for killing anything. He was generally peaceful by nature unless angered. And right now he was beyond livid.

He released the Ki and there was a small explosion. Gohan didn't give a second thought and flew back towards the city. He was going to take her to Yamcha's place rather than the hospital. He knew Yamcha probably had some extra Senzu lying around and a trip to the hospital might cause unnecessary publicity for Videl.

'_So much for going to West City to train.'_

Gohan would have to put it off just a bit longer until he was sure Videl was okay.

'_And then I'm going to figure out how she ended up in this little situation. She could have died. She needs to stop being so careless.'_

* * *

By far, the longest chapter I've ever written!

In the anime and manga, I always though the scene Spopovich was beating up on Videl to be quite brutal and sad. I wanted to mimic that same sort of devastation. I hope the implied possible rape scenario didn't offend anyone. I wanted to show just how disgusting and evil Yamu and Spopovich so Gohan wouldn't question killing them. As detailed in the story, Gohan is normally peaceful unless angered so he was pretty pissed off when he destroyed the warehouse building.

Also, I tried to give a little glimpse of the reason the Saiyans were on planet Earth in my AU. As many of you have probably figured out, they are on planet Earth for the exact opposite reason as they are in the anime/manga. Goku was sent as a baby to planet Earth to guard and protect it. The Saiyans were powerful, pure-of-heart warriors capable of incredible transformations (yep, even Vegeta!). At this point, there are very few Saiyan warriors left in the universe. Frieza killed them off as a test to his power before coming to Earth to challenge Goku and eventually being defeated. I promise to give more details as the story progresses.

I hope to see you guys next time! Please don't forget to review, I've only been averaging about 4-5 reviews a chapter and I would like some more, if possible!


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